“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” 1 Cor. 3:6-7 (CSB)

Last year, my husband and I visited a farmer’s market in the next town over. As we walked from booth to booth, we came across a couple who had decided to make planters out of small tea cups and saucers. They planted small starter plants in the cups. It was unique and since I have a thing about tea pots and tea cups, it especially appealed to me. They were not expensive and so we purchased one. Since then, that single sprig turned into a few and eventually I had to repot it into a hanging planter as it was clear that it wanted to be a running vine. When I first put the plant the pot, it seemed too small and I wondered if I had done the right thing. I hung it in a window any way. My reasoning is that it was worth a try and besides I had gotten my money’s worth out of the purchase. I walked through the room the other day and noticed that the too small plant now was popping out on every side and filling the pot quite nicely.

It seems to be our propensity to take credit for things when they are going well. This is especially true in ministry. I have been in services where a minister wants to claim the credit for an initiative or a believer’s growth that I actually started or was instrumental in their development. I’ve developed a sense of humor in these moments. I wasn’t always that way. There was a time when my own sense of self-worth was wrapped up in the success or opinions of others. No one wants anyone to steal their thunder or take undue credit, myself included. However, I’ve adopted an attitude that recognizes someone who feels the need to do this has more insecurities than I do (and I once was that person) and that it really doesn’t matter because I know that God keeps a strict accounting of all my words and actions. He already knows who deserves the credit. And guess what? It’s not me or the other person; it’s God!

This is what my little plant taught me as I gazed upon it. The people I bought it from can take credit for having the idea to plant the sprig in a tea cup. My husband can take credit for putting the money on the table and giving the little plant a chance to live. I can take credit for setting the plant in good light, making sure it was watered, re-potted and pruned. Ultimately, the little plant is one of God’s creations. He could have sent bugs to destroy it. He could have let the roots rot or because it sat too close to the window the cold to hinder it’s growth. Instead, He sent the sunshine, gave me a sense of how to care for it, gave a heart for my husband to purchase it as a gesture of love and planted an idea in the heads of two people to try something as a means of making money for their household.

This is the heart of Paul’s lesson to the Corinthian church. Stop worrying about who gets credit for someone’s salvation. It really doesn’t matter. Stop striving for credit because of a great project that has grown the ministry. It really doesn’t matter. When we stop trying to steal God’s credit, we will be able to not be upset when someone else tries to steal our credit. It was never ours to begin with.