The Signature at the Bottom of the Score

Johann Sebastian Bach is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers who ever lived. His works — from the Mass in B Minor to the Brandenburg Concertos — have shaped Western music for three centuries. Yet Bach never saw himself as a genius. He saw himself as a servant.

At the bottom of nearly every manuscript he composed, Bach inscribed three letters: S.D.G. — Soli Deo Gloria. To God alone be the glory. Whether he was writing a towering cathedral masterpiece or a simple teaching exercise for his students, those three letters appeared. The music was never his. It belonged to the Almighty.

Bach once wrote, "The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul." He worked grueling hours, composed over a thousand pieces, taught, conducted, and raised twenty children — and still insisted he was simply a craftsman doing the work God had given him.

There is something deeply freeing about that kind of humility. Bach did not diminish his gifts. He did not pretend the music was ordinary. He simply refused to take credit for what he believed the Holy One had placed in his hands.

Paul understood this when he wrote, "What do you have that you did not receive?" (1 Corinthians 4:7). True humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is writing S.D.G. at the bottom of everything you do — offering your best work back to the One who made it possible.