A brother came to see Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, “Abba, give me a word, that I may be saved.” So the old man said, “Go to the cemetery and abuse the dead.”… The next day the old man said, “Go back tomorrow and praise them.” … When the brother returned,the old man said to him, “You know how you insulted them and they did not reply, and how you praised them and they did not speak; so you too if you wish to be saved must do the same and become a dead man. Like the dead, take no account of either the scorn of men or their praises, and you can be saved.”

We need to discover the truth of our own life in God and act from that light instead of trying to garner the praise others.