Proverbs 25:27
It is not good to eat too much honey,
nor is it honorable for people to seek their own glory.
We talked about eating too much honey not that long ago. And even though we had honey last night on the cornbread my wife made, I’m just going to let you go back and read that post instead of talking about it again.
But I do want to talk about the second part of today’s Proverb, because it’s an important one. Andy Stanley has said that “Your glory is too small a thing to live for.” Which I agree with wholeheartedly. However, I would like to add a little clarification. While I completely agree that we ought to be living our lives for the glory of God and Him alone, I want to make sure we understand the implications in personal relationships when we’re living for our own glory. So, instead of talking about how we need to be living for the glory of God (which we do!) I want to talk about how living for our own glory affects our relationships.
When you live for your own glory, or you’re seeking glory from the things you do, you become a very isolating person. And that’s because glory divides. Glory doesn’t unite us, it separates us. Think of how you feel when others around you get glorified and you don’t. Now, imagine that person is seeking their own glory and that’s one of the things defines them. You know what I’m talking about. If you’re not this kind of person, you know this kind of person. It’s where everything they do is done so they can get recognition for it. It’s where they have no qualms taking credit for other people’s ideas because whose idea it was doesn’t matter – as long as they get the glory.
Let me tell you – the person who seeks their own glory will never get it. This is the ironic thing about glory. To get it, you have to give it first. And as long as you’re trying to get it, no one’s going to give it to you. That’s because glory divides, and as long as you’re seeking to get glory from the people around you, they will never want to give it to you. Because they won’t want to be around you. Because they know you’re just in it for the glory.
But, as soon as you start living in such a way that you give glory to as many people as you can, you will start to find glory coming back in your direction. The amazing thing about starting to live this way, is that you will start to see how truly amazing each and every person is, and you’ll recognize that we all have reasons to receive glory. And when you start viewing everyone that way, well, everything changes. Instead of isolating and dividing, you’ll be living a live that welcomes and unites.
