Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Let’s face it—you and I are glory seekers. Whether we’ll admit or not, we all want glory for ourselves, and some of us work harder for it than others. We crave it from our bosses, we crave it from our spouses, and we crave it from strangers who “like” our posts on social media. Many of us can’t help but to chase “likes” from so many people in this world.

Yet, one of the hardest parts of the Christian life is coming to the understanding that our glory-seeking ways have to be put to death in light of who we are in Christ. In Christ, every believer has been given a new identity. Our identity is no longer defined by the things of this world—not by education, achievements, career, socio-economic status, marital status, sexual orientation, or even our race and ethnicity. Instead, a believer’s identity is all wrapped up in Jesus now. Our identity is that we are people who’ve been saved, forgiven, and redeemed by the person and work of Jesus. If there’s any glory to be gotten in our lives, it’s only the kind of glory that’s supposed to reflect off of us and point others to him.

We should make it a habit of regularly stopping and considering the question: whose glory am I seeking in all my efforts—Christ’s or my own? The reality is that Jesus doesn’t need you to make himself look good; he could just as easily use rocks and donkeys (cf. Num. 22:28; Luke 19:40). But in all that you do and in all that others see when they look at your life, you have the opportunity to re-direct your glory-seeking ways to get glory for the one who actually deserves it.