Learning to Seek Praise from God with Work that pleases Him
“And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.” Romans 2:29 NLT
One hot and muggy summer day, I sat outside writing in my journal. Mentally preparing for this list of things I had to do that day, I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed as I wondered what was next in the plans God had for me. I’d been doing so much to partner with God and the vision He had given me, and now I felt like I was at a complete standstill rather than moving full speed ahead.
Have you ever felt this way? The to-do list keeps growing and the demands continue to pile up. Every season of life has its own weight, and this season, although good, was very heavy. I began to release how I was feeling in my journal and when I was finished, I set it aside and started to read my Word.
Cracking open the Bible, I skimmed through a few underlined sections and then returned to the place I had stopped the day before in Romans 2. Since I had read through Romans before, I was hoping I could still get a fresh revelation that would help me navigate the current emotions.
In Romans, Paul is talking to the Jews about a standard of living that represents Christ both outwardly and inwardly.
As I was reading through the remaining few verses in the chapter for the day, I prepared to close the Bible until verse 29 caught my attention.
In this verse Paul says,
“…And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.” (NLT)
Pausing after reading these words, I sat for a moment in stillness because I knew that God was speaking to me. I knew that He was wanting to start a journey with me where I became aware of whose praise I was seeking with my overwhelming to-do list. I believe He is wanting you to do the same.
Before we begin, I want you to know that learning to desire the praise of God over the praise of people can be challenging. We know what it looks like to receive praise from others, but what does it look like for us to receive praise from God?
It’s like telling my children to do well in school, then they get straight A’s, and yet they never know or understand how I show them I am proud of them. I’ve been guilty of this before, and I have had to become intentional with making sure they understand my delivery when I express how pleased I am with them. Knowing how the praise of our heavenly Father looks is important and a topic we will be exploring during our time together.
Today, I want you to meditate on this scripture in Romans, and think of ways that you may be motivated by the praise of others.
Rachel G. Scott
Author
About
Rachel is a wife and a mother, writer, speaker, and entrepreneur. She has been featured nationally and internationally on television, podcast, radio, devotionals, and blogs. As the Founder of the I Can’t Come Down movement, an organization dedicated to helping women walk in their purpose and assignment with focus, she is a former Huffington post contributor and current Youversion and Moody Radio Cleveland Partner. She is also part of The Well Communicators a faith-based speaking team.
Rachel is deeply devoted to serving God, loving and honoring her husband and raising her children in a Godly home where they experience authenticity and learn to embrace their imperfections.
Hi Rachel, I so enjoyed the blog “The Purpose of it All” part 1. The scripture verse in Romans reminds me of a song that has these words: “how can I say thanks for the things You have done for me?” “Things so undeserved yet You gave to prove Your love for me”. “The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude. All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee. To God be the Glory.” All the praise God gives me goes right back to Him!!
I love the old hymns! Beautiful.