What do all of these characters have in common? Gaston, Mr. Darcy, Regina George, Gilderoy Lockhart. These characters do precisely the opposite of what St. Paul asks of us. Do nothing out of selfishness and vainglory. St. Thomas Aquinas says that vainglory is the excessive need for the approval of others.
All of these characters are vainglorious. They don’t have pride. They don’t want to be the best. All they want is social status. All they want is the approval of others. As Christians, we fall into vainglory, and the way to fight against vainglory is to do what the saints did, which is to be more concerned with how God sees us. We don’t need the approval of others. We need God to speak the words of truth to our hearts: you are made good, seen, loved, and known, which can never be taken away from you. So fight against vainglory and let God tell you who you are.
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