Rabbi Schneider - How to Stop Seeking Others Approval
Jesus said, "I do not receive glory from men, but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him". - John 5:43.
I mean, this is the state of living in a fallen world. We look for the approval of one another. We look to be affirmed by each other. We look to know how to act by mimicking how the culture is acting. And the whole way that we're looking for significance and value is by being affirmed, embraced, and valued by our peers and the culture in which we're living in.
Jesus said, That's who you guys are. You're getting your whole identity from others. He said, "That's not where I get my identity from". Jesus says, "My identity comes from The Father". "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?"
I remember some years ago something really terrific happened in our ministry here. I mean, it was something headline news. I mean, something that you would want to put out there if you would want your ministry to be accelerated. And I remember, Lord, I know that if I put this out there, it would really put a lot of attention on our ministry, and it would really cause the ministry to grow. But Lord, I don't know if that's what you want me to do. And I remember calling a friend and saying, "You know, what do you think I should do"? And the friend said, "If I was you, I would put that out there, front lines". But I didn't have peace about it.
And I remember I was driving my car. Just an agony. "Lord, what do you want me to do about this? Is this big thing that happened something that I should promote and broadcast? Or Father, do you want me to keep this silent between just you and I"? And I was in that dilemma, that tearing of the soul. So I'm driving in my car, and then I pull into a parking lot in prayer. I get out of the car, and I'm crying out to the Lord. "Lord, what do you want me to do? I will do whatever you want me to do. I am submitted to you. I will put you first in this". And you know what? I never had this happened before since. I literally heard the Spirit call me, I heard Father call me his little buddy. I never had God call me little buddy before.
Well, when I put that thing in front of him, that could have been such a huge boost to our ministry, and I submitted it to Him and said, "I want to put you first, I want to love you first". And I didn't put it out there. God called me His little buddy. That's what Jesus is saying here, "If you seek glory from men first, how are you going to receive the reward of the Lord"? And you know what? God ended up doing great things. And some time later the word did got out.
You have a decision to make right now. Will you begin to fight the fight for truth? To cut off from your life being controlled and overwhelmed by what you think other people are thinking about you? When 90 plus percent of the time what you think they think about you isn't even what they are thinking about you. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you're living a life to please and obey him. And if your focus on what other people think about you, you will never be able to receive the honor that only God can give you. And every single one of us that wants to pass the test, every single one of us that wants to get breakthrough, we're going to have to come to a place in our life where we say NO to being controlled by what we think other people think of us, and choosing instead to try to please the only One that matters. And that's God himself.