Whose praise?
A few years ago our teenagers were engaged in the horse breeding business, Haflinger horses to be specific. With traditional red chestnut bodies and flowing snow-white manes and tails, these are horses that elicit positive comments from just about anyone. But just about anyone was not good enough. To continue in the breeding business, our teens knew they needed the endorsement of a judge, one trained specifically to assess haflinger horses.
Likewise, in the home school realm, most states will not accept a parent’s assessment that a child is getting an adequate education. Instead they require us to prove, in most cases via a standardized test, that our children are in fact learning what is required. And honestly, if your child scores high on the standardized tests, doesn’t it mean more to you than that grandma thinks he is a smart little whip?
We naturally crave approval from others, but we treasure the good opinion of an expert. For the next two months, most of us will have multiple occasions to gather with friends and family. We can use those opportunities to seek the approval of those we love, or we can remember that only God’s approval will satisfy. How we dress, what activities we engage in, what conversations we initiate, will largely hinge on whose praise we are seeking.
It is a constant, moment-by-moment struggle to want God’s glory and not our own. But in eternity, when He pronounces “Well done good and faithful servant,” it will be worth the labor.
