Proverbs 25:27 “It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor.”
Proverbs 27:2 “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else and not your own lips.”
These proverbs are very clear: don’t blow your own horn. Receiving honor from others is a good thing if it is sincere. But I can start to crave its sweetness and begin investing my energy into seeking more honor and praise for myself, and into raising my prestige in the eyes of others. These pursuits are deadly, i.e., they drain life from my existence. The pursuit of status, and of honor for its own sake instead of as a biproduct of bringing honor to God, is life-destroying. It is dishonorable. It ruins relationships and robs me of peace. And when I’m foolish enough to praise myself, it’s rather pitiful.
Father, please protect me from giving in to the temptation to be recognized as a leader or as having important ideas or as being someone who should not be ignored. Please prevent me from being foolish enough to seek honor for myself and to praise myself before others. Such behavior dishonors you. But you are worthy of the highest honor and praise. You saved me from a path of sin and self-destruction. You have given me life. Please show me your ways today, opening and closing doors ahead of me. I desire to do your will.