Did you watch any college or pro basketball lately? There is always some entertaining basketball, to be sure. But have you noticed how often the sport has become less about team and more about the individual? I have often wondered how many of the players have bruised themselves after thumping themselves on the chest to celebrate their individual accomplishments. They point to their heart so often I wonder if they need CPR. You see the same thing in every team sport. The individual celebrates like a mad man after simply doing what they are supposed to do.

It is hard to live the Christ like quality of humility (Philippians 2) when we are surrounded by Satan’s sin of pride (1 Timothy 3). We are taught by the world around us that we have to promote ourselves to get ahead in work and life. We are told that if you put someone else’s interest ahead of your own you will always be a loser.

God tells us to live our lives as reflections of the love he has shown us. He put our interest ahead of his own and lived perfectly in our place. He loved us so much he died in our place. How can you or I spend time thumping our own chest when we have someone else so much better, so much more loving, so much more deserving, that us. We can point people to the gospel and thump God’s love for us in Christ on the chest.

This week’s psalm of the day. Psalm 115 gives us wise words by which to live:

Psalm 115:1

Not to us, O LORD, not to us
    but to your name be the glory,
    because of your love and faithfulness.