In our pursuit of purpose, joy, and peace, our biggest mistake is settling for small rewards when great rewards are available. Gaining glory from other people is fun and satisfying, for a while. Until it fades, is forgotten, or the same people who cheered us are now booing.

The approval of God is more constant and more significant than the approval of man. It is not only more desirable, it is lasting. It is permanent and dependable. The glory of man tricks us by providing a shot of adrenaline, like a junkie getting a high, before the bottom drops out.

The lasting glory that only God can give transcends joy. It persists even through sorrow and boredom, suffering and malaise, the valleys, and the plains. The glory of God is not dependent on the mountaintops.

When we pursue glory, purpose, joy, or peace, the key is to pursue it in its true form. The infusion of truth into our journey vaccinates us from the illusions of the world’s fake substitutes.

God is the King of Glory. All other attempts to gain what only He can give are a mere shadow. They may hint at the glory of God, but they are fleeting phantoms.

The glory of God rises each day like the morning sun. It beams through our circumstances (even the tragic ones) like a warm opportunity. It brightens our surroundings, bringing an ineffable clarity to the choices we need to make.

“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”
– John 5:44