One of the guests on a late-night talk show was a bodybuilder. The host asked the weight lifter if he would show off his muscles to the audience. With a big grin on his face, the bodybuilder faced the audience and cameras, flexing his muscles. “Boy,” the host said, “you sure do have the muscles. What do you use all of those muscles for?” The bodybuilder didn’t answer, but continued to flex and smile at the audience.
Again the host asked, “What do you use those muscles for?” Still grinning, the muscleman remained silent and continued to show off. The answer was obvious. He didn’t use his muscles to do any useful work, but only to glorify himself. We can glorify ourselves in many different ways.
We can use our looks, intelligence, job status, and personal accomplishments to glorify ourselves. We can even use our spiritual gifts and ministries to exalt ourselves instead of the God who gave us those gifts.
Stop and think for a moment. Am I doing this to get the applause or will God get the applause? If we are honest with ourselves, many times we do things to get the applause and the glory. We want people to see our flexing muscles.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:31 and Colossians 3:17. Paul tell us to live for the applause of God and not man. We need to flex our muscles for God in service and not flex our muscles to serve us.