When I ask the high school students at my church to name a celebrity, they can instantly rattle off a list of twenty. When I ask them to say who their heroes are, their response is usually quiet silence with furrowed brows. After they think about it awhile, however, a few name their grandparents as the people they most admire. Their heroes are people whose names aren’t even known in the next town, much less nationwide. When we compare what the celebrities are well known for and what our heroes are admired for, we find a chasm between people whose glory far outstrips the value of the goods for which they receive it, and people whose worth far outstrips any glory they will ever receive. We don’t have to be famous, however, to embrace the goal of being well known and well liked, publicly approved of and applauded. To wrestle with the vice of vainglory therefore requires reflection on how much the desire for attention and acclaim can dominate our lives.

Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung. Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies (pp. 59-60). Kindle Edition.