A person who is addicted to being exalted can look with murderous jealousy

at someone who is exalted more than he does.

After sinning against God, King Saul still wanted to be honored

in front of Israel's leaders and all the people

(1 Samuel 15:30).

When the Israelite army returned victorious

after David killed the Philistine commander Goliath,

women from all the towns of Israel came out to celebrate, singing,

"Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands" (18:6-9).

How displeased Saul must have been that from that time on,

he viewed David with murderous jealousy.

People who love to be honored in front of others

can easily become jealous when someone else receives more honor than they do.

We should prefer to be honored by God rather than by people.

To achieve this, we must humble ourselves like Jesus,

considering others better than ourselves, abandoning all our privileges,

and living a life of serving our neighbors with the heart of a servant

(Matthew 20:28; Philippians 2:3-8).

When we do this, God will exalt us in His time and in His way

(Ref.: Philippians 2:9-11).