Receiving praise

“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.” Proverbs 27:21
This is an interesting proverb. How do we respond to praise? The answer says a lot about us.
Do we expect to be praised? Jesus said if we do something with the motive to be seen by other people, when they praise us we have received our reward in full (Matt. 6:1-2, 5, 16).
Do we enjoy being praised? Do we think we deserve it? Does it puff us up? These are indications that we have not completely conquered our pride.
Do we brush it off when people praise us – perhaps even coming across to them as rude?
Or do we accept praise gracefully and acknowledge God? This is what Jesus sought to do. On several occasions in the gospels, we read of how when He healed people the people were amazed and glorified God because of it (e.g. Matt. 9:8, 15:31, Mark 2:12, Luke 7:16, 13:13, 18:43).
There is nothing wrong with people thanking you for doing something, or remarking that you did a good job. A simple ‘you’re welcome’ is appropriate. Turning to them and saying, ‘I know, aren’t I great?’ is not.