The greatest award is to know what God think of me.
Reference: 📖 John 5:31–44 NLT
What I understood from these verses is how much we care about what people say about us. It comes both ways—good or bad.
If people have a bad opinion of us, it can become our insecurity. If others commend us, it can become our pride. Yet sometimes, we barely stop to care about what God thinks about us.
But Jesus is clear: if there is one approval that truly matters, it is God’s.
Like the Pharisees and the Jews Jesus was speaking to, we may read our Bibles, join Bible studies, listen to preaching, or read Christian books. But even these things can become mere religious activities if they never truly lead us to Christ.
Jesus said that John was a burning and shining lamp, and the people were excited about his message for a while. They might have admired John, but when John pointed them to Christ, many still could not accept Christ.
And this is what struck me:
We can search the Scriptures and still miss the One to whom the Scriptures are pointing.
We can admire men and women of faith. We can follow Christian teachers, writers, ministries, and communities. But somewhere along the way, we can become so attracted to the people God uses that we disregard the true Source of life.
We care so much about honoring one another without truly seeking the honor that comes from God.
So doing religious things means nothing if, in the end, they do not lead us closer to Christ. We are still missing the mark.
What I realized is that God’s approval has eternal significance, while man’s approval remains here on earth. Human praise cannot bring us into God’s Kingdom, and it cannot make us holy.
We can do many, many things in this life. We can accumulate achievements, recognition, awards, and accolades—but all of these are nothing compared to knowing Christ.
Paul said:
“But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ.” — Philippians 3:7 NASB
This reflection also became very personal to me because I am currently building Life Book Awards.
It feels almost ironic to build something called an award while being reminded by Scripture not to live for the approval and honor of people.
And perhaps that is exactly the conviction I need to carry while building it.
I want to remember that an award is only a recognition. It should never become the source of our worth. A seal, a certificate, a title, or an accolade will remain here on earth.
What matters eternally is whether what we have done has honored Christ.
So this is also my personal prayer for Life Book Awards:
May I never build it for my own recognition.
May the authors we recognize never be encouraged toward pride, but toward greater faithfulness to Christ.
May the books we celebrate point people beyond the author, beyond the award, and beyond ourselves—to Jesus.
I want to build a community where we can genuinely celebrate one another while remembering Who deserves the highest honor.
Because ultimately, it isn't about how much recognition we receive.
It is about what we do with whatever God has entrusted to us.
May Christ be seen more than us.
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” — John 3:30
Comments