Who Gets the Credit?

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Galatians 6:14)

 The cross affirms our worth.  The cross frees us from performing, from making sure we get the credit due us.  In our old natures, we take that credit and very carefully wrap our sense of worth around it.  We are fearful of losing any credit, because that would lessen the amount of worth that we could wrap around it.  Less credit—less worth, we reason.

The person who truly boasts in the cross and in what Jesus has done for her or him is a strong person. What is true of such people?

• They do not rely on recognition from others to stay faithful to God. 
• They do not pull away from others if they do not seem to appreciate them enough. 
• They can take correction without having to prove all the ways they are right. 
• They are secure enough in their own worth that they can tell the truth to someone who might reject them.
• They do not have to prove they already knew something before they were told. 

• They are free of the need to project an image or prove their worth. 

• Bottom line, they can admit their inadequacies and confess their sins and look to God for verification. 

In my old nature I look to be affirmed, to be given credit for all that I do.  I naturally try to prove that I am worthy of others' love and respect.  A competitive spirit, a self-oozing instead of self-losing spirit spits out of my heart apart from Jesus.  At times, I have been publicly affirmed for something I really did not do.  Certain traits were ascribed to me that I personally did not see. On the other hand, my name has also been left out of the "list of credits" for things I played a major role in accomplishing.  A little voice comes up in me that wants to set the record straight on both counts.  But the cross says that the record has already been set straight.  All credit to Jesus.  So be it.

Thanks be to God that Jesus has taken the credit for my prideful heart and that he has given me credit for his righteousness.  The reckoning miracle of the cross.  Therefore, all credit for my own righteousness is his.

As you look at your own heart, are you boastful or are you humble?  Do you trust in yourself and your own abilities, or do you trust in God?  Do you acknowledge that your talents are gifts from God, or do you feel better than others in the areas of your strengths? Are you trying to earn your salvation, or are you grateful that Jesus has already won it?  Do you push others away in your need to prove yourself, or do you draw others to you through your vulnerability?

Boast in your weaknesses.  Live in the power of God.   It is upside down.  It is inside out.  But it is true—through and through.

Excerpt from chapter by Sheila Jones in Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross