After actress Kate Winslet won an Oscar in 2009, she decided not to keep the trophy on a shelf or in a display case. Instead, she kept it in her guest bathroom. What? Why?

She did it so that when friends came over, they could hold the award and make an acceptance speech in the mirror. 

Yes, when the woman who worked at her craft and suffered rejection throughout her career finally won a coveted award, she decided to let others act as if it were theirs.

Sounds familiar.

Jesus is the one who lived a perfect life. He stood strong in the face of every temptation by the world and by Satan. He followed every single command given by the Father. Still, he suffered the Father’s rejection, which should have been ours. Then, when he finally rose from the dead on Easter morning, he won and got to make his victory speech: “After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits” (1 Peter 3:19).

Then he put the award in the guest bathroom for us. We didn’t earn or deserve it, and yet we get to act like it’s ours: “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

We get to look in the mirror and make our acceptance speeches humbly, because we know that God sees us as award winners—all because Jesus gladly shared his trophy with us.