{"id":234,"date":"2011-10-16T13:31:57","date_gmt":"2011-10-16T19:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atcallahan.wordpress.com\/?p=234"},"modified":"2013-01-19T12:54:11","modified_gmt":"2013-01-19T19:54:11","slug":"the-praise-of-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/","title":{"rendered":"The Praise of Men"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from The Blessing<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0I have been thinking much about the topics of wealth and faith, provision and blessing, and poverty and riches over the past week or so. Below is part two of at least a two part series on these topics. This is a bit of a continuation of\u00a0\u00a0\u201c1. The Blessing,\u201d and may be a bit of a sidetrack.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not only wealth that can capture our hearts; a desire to be honored by man, to have influence or reputation for our own purposes, to have power or control over others, to be well known, etc. can fill our hearts, thoughts and actions.<\/div>\n
\nJesus addresses the desire for honor and praise from men when he says in Matthew 6:1-4:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets,\u00a0to be honored by men. I tell you the truth,\u00a0they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then\u00a0your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus warns us about our motives for serving and giving. Is our motivation to be honored by men? Then that will be our reward. Is our motivation to honor God? Then He and all that is His will be our reward.<\/p>\n

Again he says in Matthew 6:5-6:<\/p>\n

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners\u00a0to be seen by men. I tell you the truth,they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then\u00a0your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (italics mine)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The reward options here:\u00a0be seen by men\u00a0or\u00a0be seen by God. The point in these two examples is not the \u201cdoing it in secret\u201d so we are always being weird about what, where and how we serve and worship God. The point is its all about the heart attitude and motive behind the behaviors. Serving and praying will look the same from the outside whether the heart posture on the inside is bent towards God or not. With this in mind as you read the Gospels you will find many examples of Jesus addressing one\u2019s actual heart condition as either concurrent with, or divergent from his actions. Those he names\u00a0hypocrites\u00a0are those whose actions do not match their convictions.<\/p>\n

I heard a minister once tell of a man he knows who, rather than give God just the tithe (10%) of his income, gave away 90% of his income, keeping only 10% for himself. The minister told us that this man lived better on the 10% than most people will ever have the opportunity to live. Let me make it clear, he went on to describe homes and cars, and luxury.\u00a0\u00a0I believe that because of this man\u2019s choice and concurrent heart condition, God was able to pour incredible financial wealth into his life, knowing that it would be used however God asked him to use it. Because this man\u2019s heart was not attached to wealth, he could enjoy it or give it away and his heart was not attached to it, but to God.<\/p>\n

This seems to be the case as I watch people placed in positions of influence and authority. Those that are not attached to the honor, influence, position or wealth that men can bestow upon them, will be the ones that God can use in those areas to bring glory to himself.\u00a0\u00a0These are the people that will have great honor, influence or wealth.
\nAs you spend time with God this week ask Him to help you examine your heart and true motivations. Are you really living to please God, or man?<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading\u2026 more to come. I would love to hear your comments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from The Blessing \u00a0I have been thinking much about the topics of wealth and faith, provision and blessing, and poverty and riches over the past week or so. Below is part two of at least a two part series on these topics. This is a bit of a continuation of\u00a0\u00a0\u201c1. The Blessing,\u201d and may<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[29,37,40,38,39,26,36],"yoast_head":"\nThe Praise of Men Annie Callahan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Praise of Men Annie Callahan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Continued from The Blessing \u00a0I have been thinking much about the topics of wealth and faith, provision and blessing, and poverty and riches over the past week or so. Below is part two of at least a two part series on these topics. This is a bit of a continuation of\u00a0\u00a0\u201c1. The Blessing,\u201d and may\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Annie Callahan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-16T19:31:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-19T19:54:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Annie Callahan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Annie Callahan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/\",\"name\":\"The Praise of Men Annie Callahan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-16T19:31:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-19T19:54:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b6a35fac43c51315d8e4d35ad50f6a7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Praise of Men\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/\",\"name\":\"Annie Callahan\",\"description\":\"study, write, teach the Word of God\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b6a35fac43c51315d8e4d35ad50f6a7\",\"name\":\"Annie Callahan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-annie-callahan-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-annie-callahan-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Annie Callahan\"},\"description\":\"I love reading, studying, teaching and preaching the Word of God! My hearts desire is to see people set free, equipped for their calling, and strengthened through the transforming power of God\u2019s Word.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Praise of Men Annie Callahan","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Praise of Men Annie Callahan","og_description":"Continued from The Blessing \u00a0I have been thinking much about the topics of wealth and faith, provision and blessing, and poverty and riches over the past week or so. Below is part two of at least a two part series on these topics. This is a bit of a continuation of\u00a0\u00a0\u201c1. The Blessing,\u201d and may","og_url":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/","og_site_name":"Annie Callahan","article_published_time":"2011-10-16T19:31:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-19T19:54:11+00:00","author":"Annie Callahan","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Annie Callahan","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/","url":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/","name":"The Praise of Men Annie Callahan","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-16T19:31:57+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-19T19:54:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b6a35fac43c51315d8e4d35ad50f6a7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/the-praise-of-men\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Praise of Men"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/","name":"Annie Callahan","description":"study, write, teach the Word of God","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b6a35fac43c51315d8e4d35ad50f6a7","name":"Annie Callahan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-annie-callahan-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-annie-callahan-96x96.jpg","caption":"Annie Callahan"},"description":"I love reading, studying, teaching and preaching the Word of God! My hearts desire is to see people set free, equipped for their calling, and strengthened through the transforming power of God\u2019s Word.","sameAs":["https:\/\/anniecallahan.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}