Devotions: The Right Kind of Praise

 

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

James 4:10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 

The word “exalt” literally means to lift up, and carries the idea of being put in a place of honor or of receiving public praise. There is a verse in Luke that was quoted in a kids movie as a key to a treasure map and I have remembered it ever since, “Luke 14:10-11, friend go up higher for he that humbleth himself will be exalted and he that exalteth himself shall be abased.” This was Jesus speaking, giving the idea that instead of assuming we get a place of dignity, we should be humble and take a lower place for it would be better to have the host say “no you should have a place of honor” than to have them ask you to move down because someone of greater honor was there. This teaching is reflected in this verse in James. Exalting ourselves only goes so far. Proverbs says that it is better to be praised by others than our own mouths, because people will believe the word of another but we will only come off as arrogant or puffed up if we toot our own horn, so to speak. We need to have a right understanding of who God is, who we are, and how we compare. God is so much farther above us there is no comparison. He is on a whole other level. It would be like comparing the composition of the top kindergarten student with a doctoral candidate. There is no comparing the two. We need to realize that. No matter how much better we seem to be compared to other humans, we are no match for God. If we try to exalt ourselves we will only show how far we fall short, but if we let God exalt us then it will be true and not prideful, and others will be more likely to believe it. Are you eager to exalt yourself? Do you long for recognition? How do you view yourself compared to other people and to God? Ask God to help you have a humble heart, to help you be patient and wait for His timing.

 

 

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