It’s impressive to witness the glory of others – whether as an athlete or artist, a scholar or orator, or simply through one’s charisma or embodied beauty. We get glimpses of God’s glory through each other and this is inspiring. We want to become better versions of ourselves because of the goodness we see in others.
To be sure, many are tempted to grow jealous and envious of another’s glory. They want what others have and so they despise and try to put them down.
If they can’t shine then they don’t want others to either. And they might claim this is the humble thing to do. But the real issue is their disowned glory.
We’ve each been given a glory to reveal and so we don’t have to grow jealous of each other. Instead, we can let their greatness inspire our own.
For instance, not everyone can be a star athlete. But we can affirm this gifting when we see such prowess displayed and remember to shine on our own ball field as it were. And we can do the same whether someone’s glory is their good looks, smarts, or anything else.
Their glory inspires ours and we offer ours to do the same.
The foot doesn’t have to be jealous because it’s not the hand, nor the ear envious because it’s not an eye. Each has its own greatness for the benefit of the whole. And the same is true for us as well.
We disown our glory when we look down on others for theirs. And this only brings division and discord. The wise approach is learning to let their glory motivate us to shine in our own right.
In the end, be inspired by the greatness you see in others. And let their brilliance serve as a reminder of the glory you are to reveal as well.
Photo by Riley McCullough on Unsplash
