Three Letters at the Bottom of the Score

Johann Sebastian Bach composed over a thousand works — cantatas, fugues, concertos, and some of the most breathtaking music the Western world has ever heard. Yet at the bottom of nearly every manuscript, he wrote three small letters: S.D.G. Soli Deo Gloria. To God alone be the glory.

Bach did not see himself as a genius. He saw himself as a craftsman in the service of the Almighty. He spent most of his career as a church musician in Leipzig, writing weekly cantatas for Sunday worship — not for concert halls or royal courts. He is said to have remarked that anyone who worked as diligently as he did would achieve the same results.

Consider that. The man whose music would move millions for centuries considered himself simply a faithful worker. He began his manuscripts with Jesu Juva — "Jesus, help" — and ended them by returning all the glory to God.

Paul understood this same posture: "By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10). True humility does not deny the gift. It remembers the Giver.

Whatever the Lord has placed in your hands — whether you teach, lead, or serve quietly where no one sees — you can hold it the way Bach held his pen. Begin by asking for help. End by returning the glory. The gift was never yours to keep. It was always His to give.