God really used the time in our Life Group Sunday night to speak to my heart about my priorities and how easy it is to “prostitute ourselves” by chasing after the wrong things. As much I as want to please God and receive my rewards from Him, there are times I chase after “the lusts” of my own heart and eyes by desiring the praise of men.
Don’t get me wrong; we are to encourage one another and I need encouragement as much as the next person, but the temptation to be more concerned with what people think than in pleasing God is a something I hate to admit I face at times.
In Matthew 6, Jesus said: 1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
I’d much rather have God’s reward over anything I could receive from anyone else.
In Numbers 15, God told Moses….. 38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.
God told the Israelites to make these tassels so they’d remember His Word which reminded them over and over that He was all they needed – that He was their God.
In the New Testament, we are referred to as the Bride of Christ; He is the bridegroom – we are His bride. In our Life Group Sunday night, I was reminded that when I chase after the applause or praise of men instead of the pleasure of God, I’m prostituting myself by saying – God you’re not enough for me. That’s like a bride saying to her bridegroom – “I’m sorry – you’re not enough for me.”
Simply put – it was a reminder that I am committed to (and want to) serve and speak – not for the praise of men, but for the pleasure of God.
BJ Rutledge 
Reading Romans 12 again this morning (my key chapter for the year) – verse 3 states: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
Was also reading Proverbs 22 and verse 4 says: “Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.”
GREAT REMINDERS
NIV