Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. Luke 6:26 NIV
Jesus had very strong words for those who deliberately do wrong, and in this passage we see one of those times when He addressed such people. On the surface it may not seem as though this man that everyone spoke well of had anything to do with his being spoken well of, but when viewed from the perspective of Jesus, it will be seen that this is not the case. So, let's examine the profile of such a man in relation to what Jesus said of him. Of such a person that everyone speaks good about, Jesus said, woe to you when everybody speaks well of you, and He likened him to false prophets that everyone spoke well of.
First, let's recognise that for everyone to speak well of you, you have to be different things to the different people at different times. This way, you can be to each person what they want you to be. A man of truth cannot be like this because all the time, he speaks and represents the truth. Considering that many people hate the truth, a man of truth cannot be spoken well of by everyone. A person spoken well of by everyone has to adapt himself to different people's desires so as to satisfy everyone.
Like the false prophets, such a person will of necessity be a compromiser of truth just as the false prophets did so they could be in everyone's good books and be approved of by everyone. This is the characteristic of praise seekers and they are men of the people because they do everything to be found pleasing to men. But men of God do all things to please God and because they are ruled by what God says, everyone will not speak well of them because not everyone loves what God says.
Toni
