“Applause”

“Applause”

Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching cash money, falling down on the floor, money piled up like a moving current around happy feet. More coins roll across the room, as hands scurry to pick them up. Hysterical screams of “I won, I won. I hit the jackpot” is the scene and sound of a gambling winner at a slot machine in a Las Vegas hotel lobby. It is with the same breath taking anticipation of the gambler, fingers crossed, ears perked wide open that we often await a winning approval from others concerning ourselves.

The expressions of validation such as “ You Go Girl, Whooo, Whooo!, Gurl you worked that thang, You are a strong woman, Hey, you are The Man, kudos, and a big hand clap makes us feel like we are a million dollar winner. The aspiration in human nature is to receive validation. Validation seeks answers to the questions “ Who am I? What am I worth? I am I Okay? Will they accept me? The BIG Question is: Where does your validation come from?

Jesus said of the Pharisees “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:43 Amazingly Jesus went about doing good. It is not known in scripture where he sought validation from people. He only sought validation from His heavenly Father. “And He that sent Me is with Me. The Father hath not left Me alone, for I do always those things that please Him.” John 8:21 Jesus was aware that validation through flattering words and pubic opinion of people can be vague and fleeting. Jesus understood that the same hands striking their palms together to clap for him might be the same hands that would drive the nails through his hands to crucify him, the same hands that smote him on his cheek and the fingers that plucked his beard from the roots of his face.

If we place it in the hands of other people to applaud and to approve us, we will never embrace our true self-worth. The most important validation that we will ever need is the affirmation of Jesus standing over us saying “you are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased.”

There are people in today's society who are scrambling and vying to collect the praises and validation from people and things. God is waiting with a heart of glee to applaud us when we do the things that please him. Authentic validation of ourselves occurs when we get an applause and a hardy “Amen” from The Amen (Jesus Christ). His judgment of us is faithful and true. He says that we are accepted in the beloved.