When I consider my strengths and abilities, in a reflective and honest way, I see that all of them were gifts I did nothing to receive and relatively little to nothing to improve upon them. The work I put into my most trained skill is certainly not greater than the God-given gift itself. Truth is: the work I put into honing my skills pales in comparison to the gift itself.

We should make it a habit, upon receiving compliments, not to say thank you for the compliment as much as to say “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” or “I’m happy it went well.” The most appropriate response to a compliment should be “To God be the Glory,” but in all honesty compliments are addictive if abused. Like drugs they feel good and we want more! We end up searching for them so much that we “multiply kisses” in order to receive more and stop speaking the truth in love to one another and ourselves. We often set up monuments of ourselves in our own hearts, replacing the true God, the one and only fit to worship. Let us be wary of all addictions that can be switched in place of the drug we were once enslaved by. Satan is crafty. Be vigilant!