I have a friend who will not accept compliments. She’s an intelligent, compassionate, strong woman of God. Plus, she’s gorgeous. Yet, whenever someone tells her she’s one of these qualities, she immediately strikes them down. She laughs it off. She argues with them. She makes it a point to zero in on all of her flaws.
It makes me want to tear my hair out.
So, when I saw this critter here on a Facebook post recently, I instantly thought of my friend. But I didn’t just think of her. I thought of the difficulty we, as human beings, we, as women, have concerning accepting compliments.
As part of being pleasing little girls, we’re often told not to draw attention to ourselves, especially not our looks. We’re told to build others up, often at our own expense. So, if someone compliments us, we squirm. We feel it’s not warranted, not right and must immediately be eradicated.
Instead, we could just simply say, “thank you.”
This “aw, shucks” mentality may make us appear pleasing and humble; we may look like “good little girls.” But, is this response Godly? I started thinking about how God, may, in fact, respond when complimented. Does He laugh it off or dismiss it? Does He try to convince us it’s not true? Of course not.
After all, God is not self-deprecating concerning His value:
“But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.”
Numbers 14:21
“O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.”
Psalms 8:1
“Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.”
Psalms 24:8-10
“O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.”
Psalms 108:1
“They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;”
Psalms 145:11
“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”
Isaiah 42:8
“Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.”
Daniel 2:37
“And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:14
“To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Galatians 1:5
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
1 Corinthians 2:7-8
And then there’s the worship issue:
“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.”
Psalms 95:6
“And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”
Hebrews 1:6
Uh-huh. It doesn’t seem like God’s a wallflower here. In fact, God is thoroughly convinced all He created is good (Genesis 1:31).
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”
That includes us. So, just as God would never balk at a compliment, neither should we. It’s not being arrogant accepting our value and saying thank you for it. God created it when He created each of us:
“Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.”
Song of Solomon 1:15
“O my dove…let me see your form…for your form is lovely.”
Song of Solomon 2:14
“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”
Psalm 139:14
Let’s accept it, not argue against it, and move on!
Copyright © 2013 by Sheryle Cruse
Thursday, April 11, 2013
When someone tells me I’m...
I have a friend who will not accept compliments. She’s an intelligent, compassionate, strong woman of God. Plus, she’s gorgeous. Yet, whenever someone tells her she’s one of these qualities, she immediately strikes them down. She laughs it off. She argues with them. She makes it a point to zero in on all of her flaws.
It makes me want to tear my hair out.
So, when I saw this critter here on a Facebook post recently, I instantly thought of my friend. But I didn’t just think of her. I thought of the difficulty we, as human beings, we, as women, have concerning accepting compliments.
As part of being pleasing little girls, we’re often told not to draw attention to ourselves, especially not our looks. We’re told to build others up, often at our own expense. So, if someone compliments us, we squirm. We feel it’s not warranted, not right and must immediately be eradicated.
Instead, we could just simply say, “thank you.”
This “aw, shucks” mentality may make us appear pleasing and humble; we may look like “good little girls.” But, is this response Godly? I started thinking about how God, may, in fact, respond when complimented. Does He laugh it off or dismiss it? Does He try to convince us it’s not true? Of course not.
After all, God is not self-deprecating concerning His value:
“But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.”
Numbers 14:21
“O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.”
Psalms 8:1
“Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.”
Psalms 24:8-10
“O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.”
Psalms 108:1
“They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;”
Psalms 145:11
“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”
Isaiah 42:8
“Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.”
Daniel 2:37
“And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:14
“To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Galatians 1:5
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
1 Corinthians 2:7-8
And then there’s the worship issue:
“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.”
Psalms 95:6
“And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”
Hebrews 1:6
Uh-huh. It doesn’t seem like God’s a wallflower here. In fact, God is thoroughly convinced all He created is good (Genesis 1:31).
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”
That includes us. So, just as God would never balk at a compliment, neither should we. It’s not being arrogant accepting our value and saying thank you for it. God created it when He created each of us:
“Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.”
Song of Solomon 1:15
“O my dove…let me see your form…for your form is lovely.”
Song of Solomon 2:14
“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”
Psalm 139:14
Let’s accept it, not argue against it, and move on!
Copyright © 2013 by Sheryle Cruse
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