Not to Us

We all want glory. As the three-pointer swishes through the net, the player pumps his chest and stares down the opposing fans. As the stock market climbs, the CEO boasts of his company’s innovations. When the test scores come in, the school administrator credits their new programs. 

We all want glory. For ourselves! We want to succeed. We want to be praised. We long to be recognized. How does that end up? Is that why we so often feel disappointed, slighted, sad?

A believer in God long ago figured this out. God gave him a completely different attitude: “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness” (Psalm 115:1). 

Do you know who really deserves the glory—all of it? The One who created the universe with the words of his mouth. The One who knit your body into the miracle that it is. The One who gave his life so that we could be forgiven and saved. The One who loves and forgives and loves and forgives over and over again. The One who is faithful always. 

What if we lived our lives to God’s glory instead of our glory? What if we spent our days praising God’s name instead of our names? What if we focused on building up the kingdom of God instead of building up our own kingdoms?

“Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory.”

Pastor Nathan