Tuesday, 1 April 2025

Disclaimer -This is not me!

How often we are tempted to jump into a scene or into a situation to clarify and turn things towards our favor. Especially if it has to do with credit or benefits when it's meant for us but is given to someone else. With all means, directly or indirectly, we would want to intervene and ensure we get what we deserve. But let me flip the coin to the other side. What if the credit and glory belongs to someone else especially whom we know well and it isn't reaching that person? would we then take the same effort to ensure that person is not left out? Can we be honest here? If our answer is yes, then our attitude is definitely spiritual and commendable. 

There are times when we refuse to wholeheartedly accept others success, On the contrary we leave a careless or sometime deliberate tainted impression about the person who is worthy of honor in order just to feed our ego at the cost of devaluing their image. Sometimes we see it is done loudly but most of the time it's done subtly. The Bible says in Romans 12:7 "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep". It is often easy to sympathize and weep with those who weep but honestly it is not easy to rejoice with someone's success unless our hearts are filled with Christ love and we are conscious about it. In the same book, Romans 13:7 it says "Render to all what is due... honor to whom honor".

In the passage I have quoted we notice Peter heals a man lame from his mother's womb which creates a great sense of amazement and wonder in the people around there. Peter and others were perceived like God.  Peter immediately jumps in to clarify that it is not by him or his team but it was through the Lord Jesus. Acts 3:12 When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness"? 

This is unusual in the present world. People who have gift of healing and perform miracles are made celebrities of and rob the credit that belongs to God. They strive to create a better people bank and measure it by the fan club in the social media. Even in the day to day life we see this happening. Somewhere in the paraphernalia it's about us and about our accomplishment. Isaiah 42:8 God says "I am the Lord that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images". You cannot rob the glory of God. He says I am the Lord your God and there is none beside me (Isaiah 45:5). God keeps reiterating this consistently.

You don't have to exaggerate the facts to bring glory to God. He is definitely not interested in that. Exaggerated reporting in quality and quantity is a trend in Christendom. We have the lesson in the Bible for that too. When Mathew records the feeding of the five thousand he says, "Now those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. " Matthew 14:21 CSB . How do you think it would have been recorded today? The people of the present age would have taken a big guess and bring the number close to twenty thousand. Another incident where John records the large number of fish he caught with exact number. It says in John 21:11 "So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish — 153 of them...". If it has to happen in the present time, the number would be completely different probably with several zeros added. Let's be careful in how we earn glory for God and to us. Strive to give glory to God alone and allow God to rule. God is sovereign and when He isn’t allowed to rule - He overrules.

 

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