Skip to main content

Precious in God's Sight

By
John 12:43: "They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God." 

This verse has been running through my head for a few weeks now. I included it in my last post, but honestly, it just boggles my mind. Well, not actually. I completely understand how the people this verse is talking about were deceived enough to believe that man's glory was more valuable than God's. Probably the reason it sticks with me is for fear that the same thing may be said about me some day.

This summer, I was privileged to be in the girls' dorm at camp for two weeks. I always love being in the dorm because of the amazing opportunity it brings to study the Word of God and encourage one another. We usually read through a couple of the New Testament letters together in the evenings, (James being one of our favourites) but this year, we decided to read 1 Peter. 
Some things stood out to me...

"Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." (1 Peter 3:3 & 4)

This passage challenged me. Yes, it is common: we've heard it many times. It challenged me to realize anew that "the Lord sees not as man sees... the Lord looks on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

"The imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit," is precious in God's sight. Precious to God!

Just so happens that at the same time we read this in the girls' dorm, I was working on a blog post about the Fruit of the Spirit (which you can read here.) It struck me that a "gentle and quiet spirit" is similar to what it says in Galatians 5, "gentleness and self control." "This is precious to God," I remember thinking. 

Gentleness and self control are not two of my strong points. But I realized that when I was putting on a face, trying to make others believe that I was these things, I was not pleasing God. I was seeking man's praise more than God's praise by not seeking God to transform me into a gentle and controlled person. 

I challenge you: seek God's praise! We will not hear it audibly here on earth, but one day in Heaven, I believe hearing "Well done, My good and faithful servant," will be worth every ounce of man's praise we may have 'missed out on' here on earth.

"You are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be His treasured possession." Deuteronomy 14:2

"For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be His own, Israel to be His treasured possession." Psalm 135:4

<3 Berea
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Betrothed to Christ

By Anonymous
I was reading in Exodus and was reminded of the beautiful picture of Christ and His bride. In Exodus 21:7-11, you find a peculiar law about maidservants: 1) She does not bide by the same laws as the menservants, which can leave their master after six years. 2) If her master who has betrothed her to himself is not pleased  with her, he cannot sell her to the gentiles, but must let her be redeemed; because he has dealt unfaithfully and deceitfully with her. 3) If her master has betrothed her to his son, he must treat her like his daughter. 4) His son must provide for her food, clothes, and duty of marriage and cannot diminish them if he takes another wife. If he does, the maidservant can leave for free. Weird? Kind 'a, but it makes sense. Then God popped a thought into my head about Hosea. Hosea was a prophet who was told by God to marry a harlot to illustrate God's love for Israel. Now at one point Gomer, Hosea's wife, left him for another man and ended up getti...
2 comments
Read more

A Life Wholly True

By
...His wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the L ORD his God... For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the L ORD and did not wholly follow the L ORD , as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.  And the L ORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the L ORD , the God of Israel...   1 Kings 11:3-9 Take careful note of this passage. What did Solomon do to make God angry? What was his great sin? Idolatry.  I didn't totally realize the concept of this sin until recently. Sure, I ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Part Two: The Glory of God not Honored

By
Adam and Eve, the first humans created, committed the first sin at the beginning of time. God had given them a perfect garden in a perfect world, with no sin. He gave them only one rule: not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil which He placed in the center of the garden. The Devil, Lucifer, an angel fallen from heaven, came to Eve as a serpent, and tempted her to eat the fruit of that tree. Eve yielded to him and furthermore Adam did the same. That was the first sin. You may think that if it was you in that situation, you wouldn’t do it. Don’t think that. We are all born with a sin nature. We are pressured with temptation every day. Whether we fall into it or not determines if we sin.  From the beginning it was God’s design for us to live with Him in perfect union. We were to reflect and represent God throughout the whole earth and therefore spread His glory throughout the world. God would walk and talk with us. We would be His people and He would be our G...
1 comment
Read more