How To Win The Esteem Of Others

We all want the esteem of friends, spouses, or parents.

We want them to see us as special, and sometimes, we will do anything for them to see us that way, no matter the cost.

“’ Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ Declares the Lord.‘This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.’” Isaiah 66:2, NIV.

ESTEEM

To esteem is to have high regard, value, and respect for something.

The high esteem of God is better than the esteem of the whole world. God gives a list of what he is looking for in the one he will esteem highly.

HUMBLE

Humble is to be lowly and put others ahead of yourself in thought and action.

CONTRITE IN SPIRIT
Contrite in spirit is to willfully be deeply sorry for wrongs.

TREMBLES AT MY WORD
The person who trembles at God's Word recognizes its truth and power, the Bible, and responds with awe and reverential fear.

WHO
Who is any of these things?
     * We should pray to be.
     * We should decide to put others first.
     * We should resolve to be humble.
     * We should recognize and repent of our sins.
     * We should learn God’s Word.

GOD'S ESTEEM
To earn God's regard would encompass all other ambitions; if you win the esteem of God, you will have it from the one whose esteem is most important. It would be nice to have the esteem of the rich, powerful, and famous people, but God's esteem is better. It would be better to have God’s esteem than to be the head of state, industry, or to have wealth, fame, or fortune.

What God esteems is the opposite of what man esteems. We admire the one who is powerful, good-looking, smart, talented, speaks well, etc. On the other hand, the God of Heaven looks on the "humble and contrite in spirit who trembles at his word." That could be a grandma, a single parent in poverty, a gas station attendant, or a cashier, or just the guy up the street. You would never know by looking.

THE ESTEEM OF OTHERS
If you are the kind of humble, self-sacrificing person that God esteems, you will be the kind of giving, serving, good citizen who is full of kindness and does good works the people around you will esteem.

To learn how you can know God in a personal way, follow this link: Click here.

(c) Adron 7/23/13

What Does The Bible Teach About Success Matthew 18:1-4.

We want to be successful in life, in career, in love, and in a way that gives peace of heart. There are many teachings on the subject in the world. What did Jesus say about it?

"At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: 'I tell you the truth unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"Matthew 18:1-4.NIV

THE DISCIPLES
The disciples were thinking that some earthly kingdom was about to come, and they would have a position of authority in it. So, they asked who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Their ambition was to live in a palace, have power, servants, and wealth.

These disciples were a worldly bunch; workers, a traitor, a tax-collector, opinionated zealots, sunburnt fisherman, the ones called Sons of Thunder, and Peter called "Rock." Jesus brings a barefoot, thumb sucking, dirty-faced, runny-nosed kid; and says, "Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

CHILDREN:

     * Are disadvantaged in society.
     * Are defenseless.
     * Are dependent on others for food and clothing.
     * Are fearful.
     * Are unlearned in the ways of society.
     * Can contribute little to the economy.
     * Do not speak back and give advice.
     * Cannot get justice on their own.
     * Cannot earn a living.
     * Are needy for shelter.
     * Do not have a voice in the affairs that affect them.

BECOME LIKE ONE OF THESE?!
YES, because they are aware that they are dependent. Dependent on the "Grown Ups," forced to trust them for all things. So, like children we need to be dependent upon God and recognize that we need to trust His mercy, provision, care, and love. We forget how dependent we are, but we need to trust God like kids trust those adults around them.

This verse teaches we need to personally "change" or to use the old word we need to "Repent" and not seek greatness, status, or to be well thought of. The disciples wanted to be greatest, but the ways of God's Kingdom are different than our earthly world; we value pride and self-esteem, but God rewards humility and those who esteem him.

DECIDE
Children do not choose to be humble they just are, but we must choose. We must change and decide to be like a child, and to trust God. We must come to God with empty hands and depend on Him and let Him be all things.

To learn more about coming to God follow this link: Click Here.

(c)Adron Dozat

What Does the Bible Say About Pleasing People?

Sometimes you have to choose who to please. You might please one person and in doing so offend another. Sometimes the bigger question is if we choose to please some people will we offend God?

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10, NIV.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND
There was a time before he received the calling to Christ when the Apostle Paul persecuted the church and in doing so he was pleasing men who highly esteemed his zeal. Upon his conversion Paul turned from the former ways and lived a new life that his society scorned. He even paid the price of martyrdom for his new faith.

APPROVAL
We want approval. It is an honest need. We want others to think well of us, it goes back to childhood where we want our parents to be pleased with us. For a child approval is nice, it makes him feel good and helps him mature. In an adult it is different. We should able to act independently of other's approval. Yet it is a legitimate desire; for to an adult approval is a measure of inclusion, acceptance, community and belonging. These are healthy things.

TRYING TO WIN
Paul was not against man's approval. He just didn't go out of his way for it. He responded to Jesus and if it meant he lost the approval of men it was worth it. If his service to God won the approval of men that was a bonus but the point of his life was something else.

A SERVANT OF CHRIST.
Paul gave up status and lost the favor of his countrymen to follow Christ. For him it was a choice that was no choice because the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus so far outweighed the worth of man's esteem*. Paul gave up ambition to please men and chose to be a servant of Christ.

We can't be both one who seeks to win the favor of men and of God. If we are living to please men we can't be a servant of Christ. We must choose either the fickle favor of people or the eternal esteem of Christ.

* See also Philippians 3:8

To learn more about coming to Christ see my other post, follow this link: Click Here.

(c)Adron Dozat

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What Does The Bible Say About Success? Proverbs 16:2

How do we become successful, and what is the key?

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3, NIV.

At first, that looks like a clear, and simple verse.  It looks like a formula for easy success, but if you look deeper you find there's more to it because to commit something to the Lord is hard.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO COMMIT
Commit is not a word you hear every day.  You might hear someone had committed a crime, meaning it happened. You might say, I made a commitment, meaning a promise you will surely keep.  You may say I will commit something to memory, meaning I will put it to memory for good. You might say, I am committed to a cause, meaning you are given over to it.

To commit something to the Lord is all of this and it will also be...

• To honor the Lord.
• That the end will please Him.
• That He will be in charge.
• That I will be submissive to His instructions.
• That the cause of the Lord will be advanced.
• That people will look and see God, not me.
• And that He might (and probably will) change the plans.

A WAY OF LIFE
This is a way of life verse; it says, "whatever you do;" so it could be anything: a job, career, school, housework, or marriage. This verse is so totally open-ended it is like saying commit to the Lord anything you do; or maybe we should say, commit to the Lord everything we do. That might change everything for us!

OUR PROBLEM
We find we are very committed to ourselves. We need to begin with prayer and confession. We need to search our motivations because we know we cannot commit sinful plans to the Lord. We remember, he must increase and I must decrease.

WHAT HAPPENS
When we commit our plans to the Lord something will happen, we get more of the Lord.  We find him there and discover more about him, for his plan is that we know him.

GOD WILL SUCCEED
God's idea of success may not be what we had in mind. We may want a bigger paycheck, he may want us to have more trust; we may want loving relationships, he may want us to be forgiving; we may want a big title, he may want us to wash the disciple's feet. If we commit our plans to the Lord we are committed to his definition of success. When we are committed to allowing God to work our success as he sees fit we will find greater success than we originally envisioned.

To compare this verse in other translations visit this link: Proverbs 16:3.

If you want to find out more about how to have God in your life follow this link: Click Here.

© Adron 11/24/12

What Is The Secret Path to Success? Proverbs 16:3

Can a book, class, or seminar teach you success? Yes, it was written by the wisest man ever lived, and Solomon put it in one sentence.

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3. NIV.

To our modern ear, this sounds archaic and naive, like folklore or superstition, but upon reflection, the depth of these words becomes clear and the truth of it obvious.

WORTHY
If you commit some task to the Lord, you must do it in a way that is worthy of Him. You can’t just slam something together haphazardly and say it honors God; you need to behave honorably and do your best to the highest standards. You approach it as if The Almighty is watching over your shoulder- because he is.

PARTNERSHIP
To commit something to the Lord is to bring Him into it. He is the God of victory and is jealous of his name; He does not like things to be done in his name to fail. You are inviting His blessing, but more importantly, His partnership.

PLANS
Another side of commitment is giving up your say in the plans. We must be able to give up our plans to our Divine Father's will and control. If we give our plans to God, then it is in His hands to grant success or failure. He may change the plans and probably will!

WHATEVER
You should commit life's important events and projects to the Almighty, but we can commit “Whatever” to the Lord. There is no task too small or insignificant to be worthy of God. Few of us can be architects of grand schemes; not all of us can build a hospital or establish a fund to care for orphans in the Lord’s name.

We can commit to the Lord.

• Doing the dishes, 
• mowing the lawn, 
• writing a paper, 
• cleaning your room, 
• washing the scum off the shower
• Your job, 
• your relationships, 
• your home, 
• car, 
• bank account, 
• clothing, 
• and whatever is important.

A PROMISE
It is a promise of scripture that your plans will succeed. It may be that He will rewrite the proposal and add a few lines to the blueprint or some other way to bring about success. His idea of success may not be like yours, but it will be better.

THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT
If you are going to commit something to the Lord, it must be done as an act of worship and service to give God glory and honor among men.

So whatever your plans are, you must commit them to the Lord. He wants us to, and He will honor it.

(c) Adron 6/26/10