Why would you want to credit yourself for positive attributes? Isn't it more wonderful to have those given to you by God?

Many people want others to think that any positive attributes they have are things they developed on their own. It's true that they might have worked hard at something. But likely, God helped them too. Why not acknowledge God for that during prayer time?

Let's look at an analogy. Suppose you were gifted a nice accessory item by a celebrity, and you wear this accessory every day. If someone compliments you on it, surely you would be proud to say "so-and-so gave this to me!" 

In that case then, why not apply that same mindset to things given to us by God? We can be thankful to God in our prayer time for these things. Look, the ruler of the universe blessed you with a particular positive attribute! 

It's perfectly OK (and very human) to want to work hard at something, for example to compose a musical as well as it could possibly be composed, or to paint an amazing painting. And it is perfectly OK to be happy with the result and to take some joy in that. That is not going against God.

However, we do need to be aware that God is the one who gives us our gifts and talents. It's up to us to develop those talents and to use them. It's the same with our positive personality traits. It's OK to appreciate those, and it's OK to work on those further - but we still need to understand that the origin, the starting point of these is from God. 

So next time you are happy about something positive about yourself, enjoy the fact that a celebrity (God!) gave you that gift. Yes, you developed it and used it, but God gave it to you to begin with. So be grateful and enjoy! 

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