I think somewhere deep within all of us is a quest for greatness. We want to be recognized, honored, and patted on the back for our accomplishments. Part of wanting to be published surely relates to that. After all, I’ve worked SO hard on this masterpiece. So many hours that could have been sleep, so many rewrites and revisions. Someone should really give me some appreciation, right? It’s so hard to keep that attitude in check.

And yet I read verses like Proverbs 3:34, and feel an immediate twinge of guilt for ever entertaining such thoughts.

Surely he scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble.

Now I wouldn’t call myself scornful. And I definitely want His grace. But as I approach the moment where I start sending my work out for scrutiny, I’m sure the temptation for scornfulness will come with the rejection that’s sure to follow.

After all, haven’t all the “greats” suffered rejection?

This led me to ponder what I truly want from publishing. I can’t deny the surge of excitement that would come from seeing my name in print, from walking into Barnes and Noble and finding my name on the shelf.

But then, I consider the what if–suppose rejection doesn’t follow. How can I keep myself humble?

Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913, said this:

We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.

And to be great in humility comes from purposing to be like Christ.

Maybe I just worry about silly things. The answer always comes back to living a Christ-centered life.

So, with that in mind, of course we can be both great and humble, in Him.