Dove Awards 2026: Brandon Lake Wins and Gives God the Glory
The song "The Jesus I Know Now," by Lake and Lainey Wilson, won in Country/Roots and they performed it live in Nashville.
"To God be the glory," said Brandon Lake upon receiving a Dove Awards 2026 award in Nashville for "The Jesus I Know Now," his song with Lainey Wilson (Sígueme translation). Both won in Country/Roots, reported Holler Country.
The award was for Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year. The track was performed live at Bridgestone Arena and is expected to appear on Lake's next album.
The two wrote more songs together; one is called "Lost Sheep" and it's still unknown if it will make the album. They also joked about buying each other a sheep, named after the other, to celebrate the award.
«An award recognizes a song; it does not measure the value of the one who wrote it.»
From fear to a real relationship
Wilson said in her speech that the songwriting retreat marked her. In the room, the first thing that came out was a conversation about each person's relationship with Jesus. She said the Jesus she knows today is not the one she knew growing up, the one she imagined with a clenched fist and whom she feared.
It was the people who kept talking to her about Him, she added, who helped her have an authentic relationship with Christ and understand her identity. The song's lyrics repeat it: He says who I am, and it's not what I do.
There is something true there: a faith that only frightens leaves wounds, and the Bible does not ignore that pain. But it also does not erase that God is holy. The same Jesus who forgives is the one who calls us to leave sin. If your picture of God was painted by a bad testimony, that picture is not the one in Scripture.
Wilson also told the creators present that their role goes beyond singing and composing: they are connectors. Her example was Dolly Parton, someone who loves people and lifts them up. That same night, Amy Grant and Natalie Grant paid tribute to Parton.
Grace that is not permission to sin
Lake put grace at the center and responded to criticism circulating on social media against that emphasis. His argument: grace is not permission to sin, it is what makes you want to look more like Jesus.
Seeing people connect with the song encourages him, especially those carrying wounds from the church or who grew up with a wrong idea of Jesus.
That gift is the heart of it all: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, ESV). Grace removes the pressure to earn and, at the same time, changes the heart.
Value is not signed by a jury
Lake said he is living a season in which God opens doors and he walks through them trying to give Him glory in every place. He also thanked Wilson for writing with him and celebrated the friendship that was born in the process.
In his speech he recalled that the song repeats that trophies are not needed to please God, and he thanked for the award anyway. "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV).
More country is coming: he has already released duets with Wilson, Cody Johnson, and Bailey Zimmerman, and he anticipates collaborations with Thomas Rhett, HARDY, Dan + Shay, Russell Dickerson, and Tyler Hubbard.
An award recognizes a song; it does not measure the value of the one who wrote it. If this week an applause comes your way—a high grade, a nice comment, a congratulations—receive it with gratitude and return it to heaven. The honest question remains for you: to whom do you give the glory when you win?
