I'm so honored, and I'd like to say thanks to...

When I look at the examples of the Bible, I am so stunned by the stark contrast with our own lives. It seems that back then, they knew how to give credit where credit is due. But now, we mix it up somehow. When we celebrate a victory, a joy, a new job, a new home, our praise should go to the Lord who helped us to get there.

In fact, who wins an Emmy or Oscar award and shouts, "Praise be the Lord who has helped me through all of my difficult times!" Or even closer to home, who lists God in their lists of 'thanks' or 'gratitude' at the beginning of their dissertation. Or even more informally, in daily life... when we are in conversation with individuals about some special event that has taken in our lives... we should praise the one that makes that possible.

Let Our Triumph Point toward God

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
²¹ He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
²² He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
²³ I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.” ~Daniel 1:20-23

Many of us know the story of Daniel, interpreter of dreams. When asked to interpret the king's dreams, what was his first reaction? Not 'conduct a database search on the topic', not 'refer to the instruction manual', not even 'seek out other dream interperters'. The first source that Daniel sought out what the Lord. When returning home, "[Daniel] urged [his friends]to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon" (v. 18). And that very night Daniel had a vision; his prayers were answered!

I believe we can learn two very valuable lessons from Daniel. 1) Prayer is powerful, and we should pray to the Lord for help on everything- from Finals to a new job to loneliness to health issues. This doesn't mean we'll always get the answer that we want or the answer right away. But we have the assurance that the Lord is working for the good of all of those who love him. 2) Our own personal triumphs (large or small) should serve to point to the Lord, and we should not only thank but praise the Lord for His goodness for providing, caring for and loving us. Our joys should remind us of the good gifts our heavenly Father gives to us!

Let Our Love Point toward God

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God

This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

We love because he first loved us. ~1 John 4: 7,17,19

These verses from 1 John hold a similar, albeit different, theme. Our love, as well as our triumphs, should point toward the Lord who has given us love and 'made that love complete' (v. 17). I remember feeling particularly distressed at one point in high school, because many people at my school recognized and said things to me like, 'Katie, you're so nice' or 'You're such a good person,' but they'd never connect it to my faith and the love that Christ had given to me. Since then, I've tried to make the connection more explicit when someone says that.

And I don't say this to mean that it's only me. In fact, I know so many amazing Christians... even those here in grad school. They're capable of making me smile just by seeing the smile on their face, or the way they go out of their way to help me get to a doctor's appointment, or when they ask about and pray for me. To me, it is clear that their love comes from God. But to others, it may not be so clear. That's why it's important to give credit to the Lord... that our good deeds, our love and kindness is only a dim and partial shadow of the overwhelming love that God has given to us.

It may go something like this:

'You decided to give to Operation Christmas child? You're the nicest person ever.'

'Well, actually... there is someone who lived whose love outshines any love you've ever seen...."