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| (Detroit skyline) |
(I write this as much for myself as for anyone else.)
We all need affirmation, as well as realistic evaluation. But there is a disease called affirmation addiction, and it is punishing to the soul. The affirmation addict goes up and down with the approval and disapproval of people.
Are you disturbed when someone dismisses you, or assaults you, on social media? When you get a "thumbs down?"
I've been upset when someone attacks me. If I did not live for the approval of other people, I would not die by their disapproval of me. I have to choose whose acceptance I will live and die for. (I am writing this as much for myself as for anyone else.)
Bob Sorge says, "Jesus was not touched by the praise of man, so he was not wounded by the rejection of man." (See here.) Sorge is commenting on John 5:44, where Jesus faces his followers and says, How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Thomas Merton once wrote that, when people praised him, he tried to receive this as a clean window receives the light of the sun. The more intense the light is, the less you see of the glass. However, some people receive praise the way a dog gobbles a chunk of food. I feel good when someone affirms me. But I am not to exist for the approval of others.
Are you disturbed when someone dismisses you, or assaults you, on social media? When you get a "thumbs down?"
I've been upset when someone attacks me. If I did not live for the approval of other people, I would not die by their disapproval of me. I have to choose whose acceptance I will live and die for. (I am writing this as much for myself as for anyone else.)
Bob Sorge says, "Jesus was not touched by the praise of man, so he was not wounded by the rejection of man." (See here.) Sorge is commenting on John 5:44, where Jesus faces his followers and says, How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Thomas Merton once wrote that, when people praised him, he tried to receive this as a clean window receives the light of the sun. The more intense the light is, the less you see of the glass. However, some people receive praise the way a dog gobbles a chunk of food. I feel good when someone affirms me. But I am not to exist for the approval of others.
Jesus refused to receive the approval of humanity. He didn't rise and fall by what other people thought of him. Instead, he lived and died by the Father's approval, and thus was free to live and die for you and me.
The less you care about what others think of you, the more you are free to care for others.
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My two books are:
My two books are:
I'm now working on...
Transformation: How God Changes the Human Heart (Goal - summer 2021)
And, when all this settles, Linda and I intend on writing our book on Relationships.