Fernando Mendoza said after leading his team to the NCAA football championship: “I really can’t thank God enough, and I give Him all the glory because He’s meant so much to myself and to my teammates and my family.” Mendoza’s gratitude exemplifies the message of today’s meditation.
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Deuteronomy 8:10-18a — When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God… Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery… You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.
Deuteronomy 6:11 — “We drink from wells we did not dig and we are warmed by fires we did not build.”
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From The True Measure of a Man, by Richard E. Simmons III, p. 91-93.
In the Old Testament, Moses said that arrogance is looking at your life, your abilities, and your achievements, and thinking in your heart that it is your strength, your power, and your ability that has led to all your success. Humility helps you to recognize that all you are and all you have is a gift from God and a result of other people contributing to your life. Read the following example from Drayton Nabers, Jr.’s book, The Case for Character:
Let’s take the example of a tailback who wins the Heisman Trophy. This Heisman winner gets his name in the paper and his face on ESPN. But where did he get the DNA that created the strong body? And where did he get the great coordination that helped him win the prize? How many of the one hundred trillion cells in his body did he create?
We are told that for each of these cells there is a bank of instructions more detailed than the thirty-two volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica put together. Does this tailback understand even one of these instructions? (For that matter, does even the smartest doctor or biologist in the world fully understand the marvel of a single human cell? No.)
“But I worked so hard,” the tailback might say. “I went to the weight room. I practiced harder than anyone else on the team.”
To him we could reply: “But who taught you to work that hard? Who built the weight room? Who bought the equipment? Who built the university, including the stadium you played in? Who cut the grass there and laid out the lines and boundaries? Did you hire or pay your coaches? Did you recruit your teammates? Did you open up those holes in the line that you ran through?”
If this tailback has humility, he will express nothing but overflowing gratitude when he wins the Heisman—to his parents, to his teachers, to his coaches, to all the players on his team, to everyone who helped him along the way. Most of all, time and time again, he will express gratitude to God. Humility is a form of wisdom. It is thinking clearly. It is simply being realistic and logical. It is knowing who really deserves the credit and the glory for what we do.
There is a wonderful true story along these same lines in Stephen K. Scott’s inspirational book, The Richest Man Who Ever Lived:
My former church pastor, Dr. Jim Borror, while visiting a church in the Northwest, was asked by a woman to meet with her husband, a multimillionaire entrepreneur with thousands of employees. Although this man had tens of millions of dollars and everything money could buy, he was unhappy, bitter, and cantankerous. No one liked being around him, and contention and strife followed him wherever he went. He was disliked by his employees and even his children. His wife barely tolerated him.
When he met the man, Dr. Borror listened to him talk about his accomplishments and quickly realized that pride ruled this man’s heart and mind. He claimed he had single-handedly built his company from scratch. Even his parents hadn’t given him a dime. He had worked his way through college.
Jim said, “So you did everything by yourself.”
“Yep,” the man replied.
Jim repeated, “No one ever gave you anything.”
“Nothing!”
So Jim asked, “Who changed your diapers? Who fed you as a baby? Who taught you how to read and write? Who gave you your first job after college? Who serves food in your company’s cafeteria? Who cleans the toilets in your company’s rest rooms?”
The man hung his head in shame. Moments later, with tears in his eyes, he said, “Now that I think about it, I haven’t accomplished anything by myself. Without the kindness and efforts of others, I probably wouldn’t have anything.”
Jim nodded and asked, “Don’t you think they deserve a little thanks?”
That man’s heart was transformed, seemingly overnight. In the months that followed, he wrote thank-you letters to every person he could think of who had made a contribution to his life. He wrote thank-you notes to every one of his 3,000 employees. He not only felt a deep sense of gratitude, he began to treat everyone around him with respect and appreciation.
When Dr. Borror visited him a year or two later, he could hardly recognize him. Happiness and peace had replaced the anger and contention in his heart. He looked years younger. His employees loved him for treating them with the honor and respect that true humility engenders. There is power in the humble life.
Humble people are grateful people. They give thanks to those who really deserve the credit. Giving thanks is the way we humble ourselves. It is a way to acknowledge that all we are and all we have is a gift from God.
Dr. Hans Selye (1907-1982) was among the first pioneers in discovering the impact that emotions play in a person’s health. He wrote over thirty books on the impact of anxiety and stress on our emotional well-being. At the end of his life, he summarized all of his research and declared that anger, bitterness and revenge are the emotions most harmful to our health and well-being. He also concluded that a heart of gratitude is the single most nourishing response that leads to good health. Gratitude and thanksgiving are like therapy to the soul.
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God grant us, with all others who seek you, your grace so that we may remain your children; believing in you, loving you, giving you thanks for all your blessings, and walking according to your will. Then, in your own good time, may you call us home from this brief pilgrimage to your eternal rest. Amen.
–Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771-1824)
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Alex Haley, the author of “Roots,” had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. When asked, “Why is that there?” Alex Haley answered, “Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words and think they are wonderful, and begin to feel proud of myself, I look at the turtle on top of the fence post and I remember that he didn’t get there on his own. He had help.”
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