Whose Glory?

Anytime we do something for God, or do anything well, where does the glory go?  Many times, we take the glory to ourselves.  But why do we do this?  

Do we deserve the glory?  Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”  We have nothing in ourselves to boast.  Even our righteousness is as filthy rags.  We are completely and utterly helpless without God intervening personally in our lives.  We are mortal, we naturally have evil desires and motives, and we can’t do anything about it.  So the answer is no, we don’t deserve the glory.  

So who deserves the glory?  Picture this for a moment.  The high Creator of the Universe, who holds the galaxies in His hands and calls the stars by name, the One who is exalted and praised by the holy angels in heaven, steps down from His throne.  He comes down to this pale blue dot we call earth to be born as a helpless babe.  When He is born, no one takes notice in the whole city except a few humble shepherds.  He grows up to be a boy, a young man, and then a grown man.  Throughout His whole life, he is ridiculed and shamed by the people around Him, even His family.  He chooses twelve men to be His disciples and closest companions, and even they don’t understand His mission.  One of His own beloved disciples betrays Him to the Scribes and Pharisees, who hate Him with a cruel hate.  He is whipped, a crown of thorns is pressed into his brow, and then forced to carry a heavy wooden cross up the road to Calvary to be crucified.  The soldiers hammer nails into His hands and feet.  Then He is ridiculed again.  After it all, He dies of a broken heart.  So why did He do this, you ask?  For you.  

And it didn’t end there.  After He was in a grave for three days, He was raised again, and now He is in heaven making intercession for us before the Father.  Intercession for us who have hurt Him, ridiculed Him, and crucified Him.  He is the One that has redeemed us from sin and gives our weak, trembling souls the power to do mighty things through Him.  He is personally interested in our lives, and has drawn us to Him with His boundless cords of love.  This is why He deserves the glory when we accomplish things.  He gives us the strength to do them, and consequently deserves the glory for giving us the power to do them.
So why do we take the glory to ourselves?  The answer is this: our hearts are selfish.  We want the glory for ourselves.  Our hearts have a thousand ways to tell us that we are better than we really are.  We have a void that needs to be filled, and we fill it with taking glory to ourselves.  But is that really how to fill the void?  It will work, but only temporarily.  When we give God the glory, it strangely fills the void a thousand times better than if we were taking the glory to ourselves.  When we give God the glory, we are recognizing our weakness, and attributing our strength to the One that loves us beyond what we can see.  So, give God the glory!  He deserves it, and when you see your weakness and His strength together, it will give you such a picture of His love that you can’t but desire to spend every moment together with Him!  

Keep Trusting in Jesus!
~Lilienne Stafford