The Deeper Things

For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

I Samuel 16:7 ESV

A compliment is a genuine expression of praise or admiration, a simple act of thoughtfulness that can brighten any day. Flattery, on the other hand, is insincere and often excessive praise. It’s easy for most of us to spot a flatterer because there’s always something in it for them, for example, an employee telling his boss how great his new haircut looks when he knows full well his hair looks like it’s been chopped with a weed whacker.

In contrast to insincere compliments, the apostle Paul’s compliments to his fellow workers in Christ were of a spiritual nature, and completely selfless. In his letter to the Roman church (Romans 16:1–15), Paul begins by introducing Phoebe as a dear Christian woman who “has also been a helper of many” (verse 2 NASB). He follows with a long list of compliments for others: “Give my greetings to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, the Lord’s workers, and to dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord. Greet Rufus, whom the Lord picked out to be his very own” (verses 12–13 NLT). Paul’s compliments likely encouraged and bolstered the confidence of those in the ministry with him and helped them to be better in the work God had called each of them to do.

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