'Tis the season of year-end school award ceremonies. May has become busier than December for parents with kids in school: Athletic awards, academic awards, year-end celebrations, dinners and banquets. HELP!!!!!!!!! As I spent the past month rushing from one side of town to the other for functions at any of the three schools my children attend, I have pondered the merits and pitfalls of awards.
As humans, we want to be celebrated and acknowledged for our hard work, achievements, and talents. However, as humans, it is also almost impossible to accurately recognize the contributions made by others to a class, a team or any other group. We are so biased by our own preferences or by numerical data. We are also limited by how many people can be recognized at a given event and therefore forced to choose between recognizing a few outstanding performers for their big effort or recognizing everyone simply for being part of the group.
I am so grateful that God loves us and sees us based on His own faithfulness to us rather than our contribution, effort or merit. While many of our good deeds go unnoticed here on Earth, they have eternal significance to God. While you (or our child) may not have gotten a piece of expressing your awesomeness, please remember that all humans are priceless to God. His love for you caused Him to die on your behalf. So even if you never receive a trophy for showing up and giving life your all, God sees you and is using you to expand His Kingdom!
“The Lord rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness...” (1 Sam 26:23a)
