“How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”
– John 5:44–45
What a penetrating verse John 5:44–45 is; as Jesus speaks to a group of religious leaders who were not believing in him, and he says to them, “The reason why, what’s keeping you from belief is you’re seeking glory from people instead of seeking glory from God.” I read this, and I am so convicted of my desires for the applause of men; for others to think well of me. We saw this some in John Chapter 3, and I just see it again in John 5, I see it in my own life. I’m guessing I’m not alone in this, that we often times think a lot about what other people think about us, as if that’s what ultimately matters. That actually keeps us from experiencing what God has designed in our relationship with him.
We must value obedience to God more than the applause of men. Glorying in our Redeemer far surpasses the praise of men.
We are intended to live with an eye fixed on him. His desires for us. His pleasure in us; which, praise God is sealed by the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. We’ve been accepted before God, he’s called us his children as we saw in John 1. So we live for him alone. Why would we live for anybody else? Sure, live for others in the sense of wanting to love others and wanting to point others to God, but in that, our concern is not what they think about us. Our concern is what they think about God. In fact, we are intended to live with eyes fixed on the glory of God, not on glory that comes from people.
This Verse Prays For People To Live For What Pleases God
So, God help us, we pray. I think about even what you said. Oh Jesus, when you were talking to these religious leaders and they were praying to be seen by men, and you said they’ve received their reward; God, I don’t want that reward. I don’t want to miss out on a reward from you, because I’m living for a reward from people around me. So help us, we pray. God, we pray, deliver us from the desire for the applause of people around us. So God, deliver us from it, we pray. Help us to fix our eyes on you and to live for that which pleases you; which we know will lead us to live very differently in this world.
John 5:44–45 Wants Us To Focus More On God
God, help us to think of ourselves less, to think of you more. To desire your glory in our lives; to be obsessed with others think about you. God, make that our consuming ambition to see your name hallowed, glorified, honored, known. To see you enjoyed and in that John 3:30 kind of way, God may we decrease in the process. So God, please keep us from seeking glory that comes from people today. Please help us to live for your glory alone. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
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David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
