3:206 – It’s Not About The Who

#faithbites #faithjourney who

I was watching a new episode of the Twilight Zone where a person had scale model of a town and whatever he did to the model, it happened in the town. The people began to believe in”The Helper” but attributed the work to the “evil” mayor and not to him. The pastor told him it’s not about the who, but the what.

I’m a person who likes credit for a job well down. What I’m working on is understanding in the long run it doesn’t matter who does the work, as long as it’s good work and it gets done.

In our faith, we have God The Father who created, God The Son who redeems, and God The Holy Spirit who created faith. It doesn’t matter who we attribute the good work to as it’s all God. Likewise, it doesn’t matter who is bringing people to Christ or making the world better, as it’s all God’s doing.

Scripture

• 2 Corinthians 10:15 – Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended.
• Phillipians 4:13 – For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Reflection

Our scriptures for today show us that what we do is because of Christ. We couldn’t do it without him. So if we take credit for it without acknowledging Jesus, we are lying. Furthermore, if we acknowledge where our strength and ability to do these things come from, we will be able to even more.

I know that in our world of me first, you have to have the most number of things in your resume, be able to say everything you did to rise up, or be paid the most because of what you did.

It’s humbling to say, “Yes, I did that through Christ.” Or ” I’m blessed to be able to do these things”. Imagine if we turned it from about us to the work being done and through Jesus who got it done.

This is hard as we all want credit for a job well done. There is nothing wrong with getting the acknowledgement as long as your recognize how you did it. Maybe it was a team project or a friend gave you some money to start something or someone taught you a skill that you used. This is why most books have an acknowledgement section. While the author may have done the heavy lifting, there was a team behind them supporting them along the way.

So be proud of what you have accomplished in your life and recognize the role Jesus played in it.

Challenge

Think of one goal or project you completed recently. Think about who helped you do it. Maybe it wasn’t someone directly but someone in your past that gave you the skills or opportunity to complete that task. Then trace that back to God putting that person in your life at the right time and place to help you. Kinda changes your perspective doesn’t it?

Prayer

Father God, thank you for giving us the skills and abilities to get the job done. Let us be humble and recognize your hand in this. Remind us not to take credit for others work. You are an awesome God ,creator of the universe, architect of all things. We only accomplish your work because you help us. Let that be a daily reminder to us as we speak about what we’ve done or we are going to do. Thank you for being ever present on our lives. In your name, Amen