Giving God the credit

 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.   Philipians 2:13

It seems so many times we fail to give the full credit to God, we may say “I couldn’t have done that without God!” but often in reality we take the glory ourselves. In Matthew 6 verse 4 Jesus says “That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” Of course He’s not saying to do your alms in secret and then wait for God to exalt you. He says in verse 2 “Do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do.” God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble, and God loves a broken and contrite heart, and He loves people who fully point the glory back to Him.

I’m afraid we often act like the pharisees, in verse 5 Jesus says about the pharisees “For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.” They wanted people to see their “good works”, they didn’t truly care about pleasing God. whereas Jesus said in Matthew 5 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Jesus was the perfect example of humility He lived the perfect life and calls us to follow in His steps. “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 He preached the gospel to the poor, healed the sick, and He died for the sins of this world.  Throughout His entire life He never sinned and He willingly died a criminal’s death for the same people who shouted out for Him to be killed. He is the ultimate example of love and forgiveness.

Don’t you want to be like Jesus?

Let me encourage as you go about your everyday life as an ambassador for Jesus, following in His steps, make sure the glory goes to Him not to you, because we don’t deserve the honor. We are just broken vessels following what our Lord commanded us to do!

So give him the glory!