“All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory.”
What an awesome, intense statement! Jesus says all His disciples belong to God and God gave them to Him. It paints a two-way love relationship between God and Jesus based on mutual trust and generosity. Then He weaves in the third chord – so they (His disciples) bring Him glory, i.e. His life is on display in them. Another version (NIV) says, “All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.” Jesus gets His glory from the people around Him – His disciples.
When we step into the shoes of Jesus and juxtapose this prayer over our lives, does it sound out-of-place, audacious and even crazy? All we have belong to God – well, no doubt about it and no issue with that. All that God has is ours – now this is starting to sound really phenomenal! How can it be? Wait. God has given them to us!
Indeed, all 137 churches under our care and support belong to God and He has given them to us, so they bring us glory. We bask in this undeserved and unearned glory of having our name on display in this grand work in Asia. Likewise, glory has come to you as well, because all we have is yours and He has given us to you.
Take it a step further. Jesus commands us, in and out of love, to make disciples like Him (Matt 28:18-20). People belong to God and He has given them to us, so they bring us glory. May your glory come in the everyday arena, too.
