Seeming Better Than You Are

[ACS67]

The correct response is "all glory to God" because it is his grace in you that people are "seeing" as "good".  Any and all good comes from God, we simply cooperate (or not) with his grace. 

[CrossCuT]

Lol I know its all well meant, but saying that stuff really does sound kinda pompous. :|

[ACS67]

All the "pomp" goes to God and not the person.  That is the point of saying "All glory to God", i.e. to deflect attention off the person being complimented so they do not fall into pride. 

[Lil Red]

All the "pomp" goes to God and not the person.  That is the point of saying "All glory to God", i.e. to deflect attention off the person being complimented so they do not fall into pride. 

 

if the OP is trying not to come off as holier than thou, when she is being complimented on behavior or whatever and says, "Oh no, no, all glory to God" - it's not going to help the perception that she is being holier than thou. 

[CrossCuT]

if the OP is trying not to come off as holier than thou, when she is being complimented on behavior or whatever and says, "Oh no, no, all glory to God" - it's not going to help the perception that she is being holier than thou. 

Yap

 

:hehe2:

 

I think if I heard someone say that Id be like "Err....."

Maybe one could just say it to yourself and not out loud?

Edited July 16, 2013 by CrossCuT

[Lil Red]

Yap

 

:hehe2:

 

I think if I heard someone say that Id be like "Err....."

Maybe one could just say it to yourself and not out loud?

 

that's a good idea about saying it in your head as a silent prayer. My standard is that if someone pays me a compliment, I just say, "Thank you" and move the conversation along. 

[ACS67]

I just don't see it that way at all.  I have said this statement to someone before and they knew exactly what I meant because she said, "well you should take some credit."  But the idea is all "credit" goes to God for who I am if indeed I am being perceived as "good" or "talented" etc. etc.  for only God is "good" as Our Lord tells us in Scripture.   

 

Today we often believe our goodness our talents, etc. come from us and they do not.  We want to be praised and complimented to excess.  We are a very narcissistic culture. But as St. Therese said, "Everything is grace."  If any glory is to be given it should be to God alone.  So, I stand by that statement.  :)

 

 

[Lil Red]

Okay. Dude. I don't agree. I clearly am not going to put more energy into this convo and I am clearly not saying you're wrong. Just giving a different perspective.

[Lil Red]

i probably came off as a beesh in my above post because it was short and clipped. i was typing on my phone, and i hate doing so because it takes me so long. so yeah. 

[BarbTherese]

So someone please help me. I feel like people see me as this "holy person" or whatever because I try to live my faith. I'm concerned people see me as "holier than thou" because I go to daily mass a lot and stuff. So some people see me like that. But then, there are those who pretty much think I'm a saint. AHHH! no I've failed pretty miserably, God has brought me out of that so that today I can say I am no longer stuck in the awful situation I was in a year ago, but I am pretty far from perfect. People say stuff to me that they admire me or whatever, and when I say stuff like, well I don't judge others because I've failed more than they have, when you consider the amazing upbringing and all the graces i've had in my life, compared to these kids who drink party and have sex, but were brought up like that and therefore imho have little guilt in it, then people think I'm just being oh so humble and oh she's so holy or whatever. But i mean it! I can't go around telling everyone I meet the story of my complete failures, I mean its completely humiliating, and certainly not something I want public, but what do I do????

 

Sometimes there is nothing more humbling than other's praising one when one knows that it is not truly deserved.  Some wise saint once said that in public we have our words to watch and in private our thoughts.  Sometimes too as one journeys, one finds that watching the words (and behaviour) in public is the easy part and it is then that the thoughts, also the current thought patterns, that really come into consciousness as never before and one realizes one is not quite what one appears to others at all.  It is very humbling.

 

If others think I am some sort of 'holy' person, I make a joke of it and tell them that if they knew what was in my past, they would very quickly change their thinking.  I don't think one has to actually detail what is in one's past, just bring to the attention of the other that there is indeed 'a past' somewhere.  This can be a real encouragement to others as they perhaps view their own lives and realize that they can move on from it all and change.  Whether the other believes that one does have a past or not will depend on how one states the fact that there is a past.

 

Other than this, I don't think there is any need to do anything further.  Because the real suffering caused by others thinking one is some sort of saint, despite the corrections one has offered, is a real suffering and can be redemptive and quietly born.  It is an overwhelmingly humbling matter and no need for concerns, rather to be grateful for the humiliation and opportunity to unite a small suffering to that of The Cross - and hence a truly redemptive disposition.  It is a small suffering too when one considers what many in our world undergo and daily.  And also when one considers how many have their reputations totally destroyed by untruth and/or distortions of facts.

Edited July 16, 2013 by BarbaraTherese

[Era Might]

If you go to Mass a lot and try to be holy, then own it and accept that you are holier than other people, and accept that you are living a different life, and if they aren't comfortable with that, then so be it. Isn't that the goal of life, to follow the right path? The problem isn't that you're pious, but that (it seems to me) you don't want people to know you're serious about it. It's like when people talk and they say, "you know...?" like they're afraid to actually make a statement without a question mark at the end.

 

Be comfortable with who you are.

 

BUT, I would also add that if you are going to be a Christian, then be one, and measure yourself not by how pious you look, but how much love you truly have.

Edited July 16, 2013 by Era Might

[BarbTherese]

It is not what others think or don't think that matters, rather our focus is on what The Lord thinks and this is all that really matters.

[ACS67]

i probably came off as a beesh in my above post because it was short and clipped. i was typing on my phone, and i hate doing so because it takes me so long. so yeah. 

 I didn't think you came off badly at all.  I understand you have a different perspective.

 

P.S.

I love Tommy Lee Jones! :)

[Winchester]

I just don't see it that way at all.  I have said this statement to someone before and they knew exactly what I meant because she said, "well you should take some credit."  But the idea is all "credit" goes to God for who I am if indeed I am being perceived as "good" or "talented" etc. etc.  for only God is "good" as Our Lord tells us in Scripture.   

 

Today we often believe our goodness our talents, etc. come from us and they do not.  We want to be praised and complimented to excess.  We are a very narcissistic culture. But as St. Therese said, "Everything is grace."  If any glory is to be given it should be to God alone.  So, I stand by that statement.  :)

Who cares what you think? You're a bird. Tommy Lee Jones knows what he's talking about. You're just a bird.

[ACS67]

That bird happens to be my favorite bird!  I love Blue jays!  They make me happy!  :) They really do....I missed them when I lived away from Oklahoma.  :)

 

Tommy Lee Jones can't know too much...after all he is from Texas!  :smile3: