One day my daughters placed their school awards in sports, reading, academic achievements, and the like on display above the bookshelf where they can be noticed plainly as one walks through the living room. As I was wondering why those certificates came out of drawers, it occurred to me that we had a special gathering late in the afternoon that day. Perhaps my kids wanted to show how great they were in school.

Gideon was one of the Israelite Judges who led God’s people against their enemies as they kept harassing them. When Gideon and his three hundred men defeated the Midianites, all the Israelites made a urgent request of Gideon to be their ruler. Gideon rejected their plea; instead he asked the people of Israel to give him the plunder they collected from their fallen enemies, which were mostly gold earrings. Gideon made a sacred ephod like a modern vest from the gold and place in Ophra, his hometown. Then the Bible said that the ephod became a trap for Gideon and his family (Judge 8:27), for all the Israelites prostituted it by worshipping it (27).

“Fire tests the purity of silver an gold, but a person is tested by being praised” (Proerbs 27:21). Of course, a person’s self-esteem arises usually from the compliments or praises from others  as well as from the services we provide for others; the glory or honor should be however given back to God, for every good and perfect gift comes down to us from God our Father (James 1:17). What’s more, Paul wrote to his Christian friends to boast only in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 18:31).