The Signature No One Was Meant to See

Johann Sebastian Bach is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers who ever lived. His fugues, cantatas, and concertos have shaped Western music for three centuries. Yet at the bottom of nearly every manuscript he completed, sacred or secular, Bach wrote three small letters: S.D.G. Soli Deo Gloria. "To God alone be the glory."

At the top of his pages, he often inscribed two more: J.J. Jesu Juva. "Jesus, help."

Think about that. A man whose genius was evident to everyone around him began each composition with a prayer for help and ended it by redirecting every note of praise back to the Almighty. These were not public declarations. They were private markings on working manuscripts, a quiet discipline of the heart between a craftsman and his Creator.

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 did not see himself as a great artist. He saw himself as a servant with a particular skill.

That is the shape of true humility. It is not denying your gifts. Bach clearly used his. It is knowing where those gifts came from and who they belong to. Paul said it plainly: "What do you have that you did not receive?" (1 Corinthians 4:7).

The most gifted hands in the room are still borrowed hands. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is writing S.D.G. at the bottom of everything you do.