The Signature of Humility

At the end of nearly every manuscript he completed — cantatas, fugues, the Mass in B Minor — Johann Sebastian Bach wrote three small letters in the margin: S.D.G. Soli Deo Gloria. "To God alone be the glory."

This was no empty flourish. Bach composed over a thousand works across his lifetime, music so mathematically precise and spiritually luminous that later composers wept when they discovered it. Yet Bach refused to claim the credit. He also began his manuscripts with the initials J.J. — Jesu Juva, "Jesus, help me." He started by asking for help and finished by giving the glory away.

Bach spent much of his career as a church organist and choirmaster — often underpaid, frequently in conflict with church councils who didn't fully appreciate what they had. He could have cultivated fame. Instead, he kept writing S.D.G. at the bottom of the page.

Humility isn't thinking less of your gifts — it's simply knowing where they came from. Bach had enormous gifts. He knew it. And he also knew that every note was borrowed from a greater Composer.

The Apostle Paul asked, "What do you have that you did not receive?" (1 Corinthians 4:7). What would change in your work, your relationships, your worship, if you began each morning with Jesu Juva — "Jesus, help me" — and closed each evening with Soli Deo Gloria — "To God alone be the glory"?

The humble life is simply one that keeps writing S.D.G. at the bottom of the page.