We want credit.
Credit for our work, our ideas, and our patience.
We want other people to know just how, and how much we contributed to any given task or relationship. ‘It’s only right,’ we tell ourselves, that credit is given where credit is due. For we possess an inherent need for others to recognize our efforts and acknowledge us accordingly. Consequently, if you are anything like me, you are always subconsciously aggregating your daily, weekly, and lifetime contributions to the organization, family, or relationship.
Often coupled with this need for recognition is an inflated view of self. We over-value our contributions and errantly ascribe ourselves an exaggerated impact. Worse yet, we can fail to properly discern the contributions of others. Often glossing over or completely dismissing ideas and efforts which we certainly would have championed for ourselves.
Ultimately, ‘credit’ an insidious topic that appears basic and apparent on the surface, but belies a rash of complexities that are difficult for us to accurately navigate.
“But because God was gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I’m not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven’t I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn’t amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it.”
If we are willing to remove ourselves from the center of the frame for a moment, we might recognize a simple truth that dispels the muddy nature of credit. The truth that nothing we do can or should be wholly credited to us, but instead points back to God. With God, as Paul describes in the verse above, providing the opportunity and imbuing us with the attitude and energy to follow through.
Confronted with this reality, my self-assured and overly entitled nature is forced to fade away. No longer am I the self-made and over-worked contributor, but the recipient of an undeserved grand inheritance.
Perhaps it is time to relinquish our inflated view of our own contributions and humbly begin to assign credit where it is truly due. For this shift in perspective brings with it humility that will enable us to live more contentedly, and more appropriately appreciate those around us. Let us retire our quest for credit and turn instead to gratitude.