January 13, 2025 - John 8:50

“Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.” John 8:50 ESV

Jesus, we learn more about you in this verse. You say in this verse that you were not here to seek your own glory. Wow, this is so different from the ways of our world. Oh, how our flesh wants glory. We want the approval of others. We want to gain what our society says is success. We want wealth, power, and prestige. Those are the ways of our world. Those were what the Jews who were waiting on the Messiah were waiting on. They were looking for someone who would seek glory and build an earthly kingdom established on wealth, power, and prestige. But Jesus, you didn’t come to do anything in the ways of our world. The opposite. You were not seeking the approval of man for you had the ultimate approval of God the Father. You were not seeking power, for you are God Almighty. You don’t need prestige, for you knew who you were, and you don’t need to prove it to any human.

We see this verse lived out in all that you did here on earth. Jesus, you the most glorious God, came to earth and chose to live as a servant. You humbled yourself and chose to seek out the sinners, the sick, the hurting, and the outcasts. You lived among the outcasts. You allowed humans to kill you in the most painful and humiliating death, yet we see the glory of the love of God shining so brightly in this act.

You came to bring glory to the Father, and you only needed to be glorified by him. Help us be more like you. Holy Spirit, help us live like Jesus. Uproot the ways of our world from us. Give us your value system. Kill the desire for wealth, power, and prestige in us. Let us find our value in you alone. Help us not desire comfort more than you and obedience to you. Never let us steal your glory but grow our desire to bring glory to you in all we do.

In Jesus name, amen.