“The glory all belongs to God.”

As most of you may know, I have just celebrated 50 years of preaching the gospel. Those fifty years were full of ups and downs, however, the hardest part of my fifty years in ministry was not the sermon preparation or sermon delivery, it was staying humble after the sermon was over.

The handshakes and pats on the backs have a way of going to one’s head.

We tend to do what Paul warned us about in Romans 12:3 “For I say to every man that is among you, through the grace given unto me, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

Paul’s teaching in Romans 12:3-8, suggests that there were members of the church in Rome who thought of themselves more highly than they ought. They considered themselves better than others or more privileged than they were. Paul urged the Romans to “think of yourself with sober judgment,” which means to make an honest, accurate, wise, and balanced evaluation of yourself before God.

Thinking of yourself more highly than you should, will not happen if you genuinely take stock and consider all that God has done for you and given unto you. Paul felt only humble gratitude for God’s mercy in counting him trustworthy to be Christ’s servant.

When a congregant tells me how much he enjoyed the message, I tell them, “The glory all belongs to God.”

Blaise D. Polk, Sr.