Rav Avigdor Miller on Asking For a Life of Glory
Q:
On Shabbos Mevorchim we ask Hashem for a חיים של עושר וכבוד, a life of wealth and glory. But didn’t we learn that glory is something that is inappropriate to run after in this world?

A:
Good question. Why do we ask for a life of osher v’chovod, a life of wealth and glory? The answer is this: We are not looking for glory – but we hope Hashem will help us behave in such a way that we deserve glory. If people will honor us because of our good character, we don’t mind. We want to succeed in behaving in such a way that we deserve kovod, yes. I would like people to say, “Miller – he’s a nice fellow!” I would like that, yes. Because that means that most likely I did something that would please people.

So you should do things in such a way that people should approve of you — but you’re not living for kovod. And so, in that tefilah we ask Hashem, “Please, give us a life of kovod; please help us this month so that we should behave in a dignified manner; decently and Torah’dik, and then we deserve to get kovod from people.” Oh, if we succeed in doing that this upcoming month, then we’ll be very happy because that means that we’ve had a successful month.