THE GLORY BELONGS TO GOD.
By R. F. Cottrell
"If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability that God giveth; that God in all things may be glorified." 1 Pet. 4:11. No one can claim that he has done great things in the service of God, by ministering much to the necessity of the saints, because he can give no more than God has given him. To God belongs all the glory. As for ourselves, he that gives all that God has given him, does what he can; but the glory is due to Him alone. The poor widow that gave her two mites, did more than all those that gave of their abundance; for they did not give all. And this rule is not only applicable to the ministering of worldly goods, but to all our powers of body and of mind, by which we serve God. If we have abilities to labor to effect in the cause, God has given all our talents, and he alone must have the glory. None can do more than God has given him strength and talents to perform. Those that labor to the extent of the abilities that God has given, do what they can; and none can do more. The apostle Paul understood this, therefore he says: "But by the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." God requires a full sacrifice of all that we have and are in his blessed cause; and when we have consecrated all to him, we have done no more than our duty—we have given nothing but what he first gave us. All is of his grace, and all the glory is his. "Where is boasting then? It is excluded."