Don’t Worry What Others Think
The Kotzker Rebbe zy”a asks why saying that they were in their own eyes like grasshoppers – which is a sign of their humility - was a complaint against them. He answers that their sin was saying that they were also like grasshoppers in the eyes of the giants who resided in Eretz Yisroel. They should not have cared about what others thought of them. In any case, how did they know that the residents of Eretz Yisroel looked down on them?
The fact that they were worried about this proved that their intentions were not purely l’sheim shomayim. Rather, they were concerned with their own honor and, therefore, cared what others thought about them.
This is a fundamental aspect of avodas Hashem. One should do what is right without worrying about what others think. This is as the Shulchan Aruch states (Orech Chaim 1:1): “Do not be embarrassed in front of people who mock you when you serve Hashem.”
