We’re meant to be like mirrors, reflecting glory to its source. Imagine someone seeing the brilliant noon sun reflected in a mirror and complimenting the mirror on its brightness. How absurd! The mirror merely reflects; it produces no light of its own.

Human nature instinctively seeks glory for itself. It reminds me of the story of two ducks and a frog who worked together to migrate. The frog bit onto a stick, and each duck took an end in its beak. As they flew over a farm, the farmer looked up in amazement and said, “Well, who thought of that?” The frog couldn’t resist and opened his mouth to say “I did!” – with predictable results.

Children show this tendency with refreshing honesty. My daughter Ashlyn when she was a little girl once declared, “Daddy, I’m the best singer in the world.” Another time, when I complimented her coloring, she replied without looking up, “I know.” This desire for recognition starts early and runs deep.

The Problem with Glory-Seeking

When we grasp for glory, we rob ourselves of two precious opportunities: the chance to glorify Christ and the privilege of sharing His gospel. God is crystal clear about this: “I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 42:8). He created us specifically for His glory (Isaiah 43:7), and He’s jealous of that honor (Isaiah 48:11).

Yet how easily we steal God’s glory. When someone says, “He is such a clever boy!” we respond, “Thank you, he takes after me.” When they admire our facilities, we say, “Well, we’ve worked hard, and God has honored our stand on the Word.” We claim accomplishments came from our own power (1 Corinthians 4:7) or our own spirituality (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

Reflecting Rather Than Absorbing

Consider what happened at the Beautiful Gate in Jerusalem. A man lame from birth had just been dramatically healed. The crowd was amazed – the text uses three different words to describe their reaction: they were astonished, filled with wonder and admiration, and fixed their eyes with absolute attention on Peter and John (Acts 3:1-10).

But the apostles immediately redirected this attention. They were common fishermen with no inherent power to heal.

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