Credit Where Credit is Due

“…you treat the potter as a lump of clay. Does a book say to its author,
‘He didn’t write a word of me?’ Does a meal say to the woman who cooked it,
‘She had nothing to do with this?’”
Isaiah 29:16

Wouldn’t it absurd for an art student to go into a Thomas Kinkaid gallery, buy a painting, and then display it in his home as his own masterpiece? What about a woman baking a Mrs. Smith’s frozen pie for her guests, and then claiming that she made it from scratch? We would think that both of these things are preposterous.


The Bible says that we are the clay and God is the Potter. He created us and is molding and shaping our lives to be the Masterpieces He has created us to be. Yet, how many times do we find ourselves gloating in the blessings that He has given? We may not say anything at all, but all too often, if we are honest, we get a little puffed up when it comes to our success, our finances, our home or cars, and even our social status. We get a little too comfortable, prideful, and independent, thinking we can make it all on our own.



For us to take credit for anything at all in our lives is as crazy as a book saying to its author, “he didn’t write a word of me”. When we do this, we are treating God, the Potter, as a lump of clay. We all know that we had absolutely nothing to do with our coming into existence. I would venture to say, that there isn’t anyone who would say that they created themselves.



So, why is it that we are sometimes so quick to take credit for our own financial blessings, our successes, or our talents and abilities?





Even as mothers, we can find ourselves taking “internal” credit for our amazing children or the art of “juggling” all that we do as home managers. However, everything we accomplish, from the smallest to the greatest task, is all because of the gifts HE has entrusted to us. Whether it’s physical, emotional, mental, or social, “every good and perfect gift is from God”.


For example, is it the case that a mother is amazing because she is extremely organized, tidy, and does her job with excellence, or is it that God has chosen to bless her with the gift of organization, the desire to keep her home, and the physical stamina to carry out her calling?


Is it that a man is brilliant when he manages a large company and is financially successful, or did God orchestrate the gifts and opportunities in his life to bring him where he is and to bless him with the wealth he may have?


In other words, everything boils down to one thing and that one ingredient is GOD! We are nothing without him. “All things were created by Him and for Him” and even the things man “thinks” he has invented, came as a result of the brain and intellect that God Himself gave us.



Don’t you want your life to be a beautiful masterpiece that displays the wonder and glory of God? Wouldn’t you like for Him to be able to display your life as a “workmanship that He created” and for Him to receive the honor for it? Let’s acknowledge today that we, in and of ourselves, are nothing, and it is only through Him that we “live, and breath, and have our being”. Today, let’s just give all credit where credit is due!


Lord, thank you for all that you are doing in my life. Thank you for the blessings in my life. Help me today to be quick to give you glory and point people to the real source of my life, success, and blessings.



Your can read more from Tammy at Steps In Our Journey