IT'S ALL ABOUT HIM

"For his name's sake."
Psalm 23:3

Actor Kevin Bacon recalls when his six-year-old son saw the movie Footloose for the first time: "‘Hey, Dad, you know that part in the movie where you swing from the rafters? That's really cool, how did you do that?' I said, ‘Well, I didn't do that part...it was a stuntman.' ‘What's a stuntman?' he asked. ‘That's someone who dresses like me and does things I can't do.' ‘Oh,' he replied and walked out of the room looking a little confused. Later he said, ‘Hey, Dad, you know that part in the movie where you spin around on that gym bar and land on your feet? How did you do that?' I said, ‘Well, I didn't do that either. That was a gymnastics double.' ‘What's a gymnastics double?' he asked. ‘That's a guy who dresses in my clothes and does things I can't do.' Then his son asked, ‘Dad, what did you do?' ‘I got all the glory,' I sheepishly replied." The songwriter put it this way: "Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before Thy throne. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."

Ever ask, "How could God use someone like me?" The Psalmist answers, "For his name's sake"! Only one name counts-and it's not yours! With the same intensity that God hates pride, He loves humility. His Word says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (Jas 4:6 NIV). So here are a few tips on staying humble:

(1) Evaluate yourself honestly. Don't be like the beaver who told the rabbit as they stared up at the immense wall of Hoover Dam, "No, I didn't actually build it myself. But it was based on an idea of mine." The Bible says, "Don't cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself...but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities"
(Rom 12:3-4 PHPS).
(2) Learn to celebrate others. Paul writes, "Don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves" (Php 2:3 NLT). Every goal scored in life is usually a team effort. Be like the little boy who came home from the tryouts for the school play and announced, "Mommy, I got the part. I've been chosen to sit in the audience and cheer." When you can do that, your head finally fits your hat size.
(3) Don't announce your success before it occurs. "One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off" (1Ki 20:11 NIV). When one of Charles Spurgeon's students proudly stepped up to preach, but came back down having failed miserably, Spurgeon supposedly said something like, "If you'd gone up the way you came down, you'd have come down the way you went up." God blesses our efforts only when they're done "for his name's sake."