For a few years I worked as a prison guard for the state Department of Corrections, part of which was at a “super maximum” cell block. One of the duties of graveyard shift officers was to collect and examine the outgoing mail. Before sending it on to the post office, two of us were assigned to dump the pile onto a table, arbitrarily count nine letters and then open the tenth. It was a method of randomly scanning letters for the unlikely possibility of uncovering an escape plot or other criminal behavior.
During one such shift I was one of those officers mindlessly counting, opening, reading and re-stacking outbound letters. After another count to ten I happened to land on one authored by the most infamous inmate in the prison. I opened it, read it and would you believe? It actually outlined an escape plan! I couldn’t believe my eyes and I couldn’t get to my supervisor fast enough. I was so proud of what I had discovered and, truth be told, was imagining the recognition I would get. First thing in the morning, my supervisor gave it to his supervisor and he, in turn, reported it to the deputy warden. I was never more excited to come to work as I was the next night. But not one thing was said. Nothing. It was like it never happened. I later learned that the second boss essentially absorbed the credit and my name was never mentioned. I was angry.
Have you ever been on the losing end of someone not giving credit where credit is due? It’s amazing how acute your sense of justice is when you’re the one overlooked. Yet, that’s what Christians do to God every time they take pride in their job title, the good behavior of their children or when they make a profitable business decision. “Look how well I’ve done for myself!” Beware, these are dangerous thoughts!
In Isaiah 48:11 it reads, “My glory I will not give to another.” And again in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” For a sense of how serious God is about this, consider the stories of Nebuchadnezzar and Herod. Despite having been warned by Daniel, it is written of King Nebuchadnezzar:
At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” (Dan. 4:29–32)
Herod was also a king and, in like manner, took to basking in his own glory. It ended poorly for him as well.
On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. (Acts 12:21–23)
There are few sentences for a violation of God’s law that are more demonstrative than those of Nebuchadnezzar and Herod. The former driven to seven years of grass-eating madness, and the latter to instant death by worms. “My glory I will not give to another” seems very clear in that context.
“What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). Instead of defaulting to self-pity and anger when you are overlooked (as I did), bear in mind Who it is that truly deserves the credit. If you reached your sales, weight loss, Bible reading or financial goal, then praise the Lord! Literally, praise the Lord! You need not become anxious when you were overlooked. In actuality, the glory wasn’t yours to begin with.