Pastor John D Jakes

I have written about glorifying God. I have tried to be specific, but should I have been more general? In order to glorify God with more of our life we must cultivate two significant attitudes about our life.

Look with me again at 1 Corinthians 10:31…

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

The two attitudes… The first attitude comes from the two words – “do all”. We need to cultivate about life is that it is designed precisely to bring glory to God. Yes, I am saying that you and I and every other created thing have been created to bring glory to God. We are not just created to do that in a general sense (as in – we are created by God so He gets glory as Creator). We are also created for the express purpose of shining a light on His glory. Our nobility should shine a light on His nobility. Our kindnesses should shine a light on His kindnesses. Our courage should be shining a light on His fearlessness. Any attitude that diminishes the glory that goes to God is an evil in us.

The second attitude is found in the word “whatever”. We must truly believe that our everyday lives have the potential to glorify God. It must be our default attitude and question. We must develop this attitude beyond, “Can my job, relationship, home life, attitude, etc. glorify God?” Asking that question means that our default attitude is not yet that “whatever we do” can glorify God. The “can I” question reveals this. However, if we are asking, “How can I glorify God in this situation or relationship?” then we are asking the right question.

Let me remind you of the 3 broad implications of what Paul shares in 1 Corinthians that comes to a conclusion in 10:31…

1. No matter the activity (eating, drinking, work, relationships, etc), our higher calling to glorify God is never turned off. Nothing turns off the high calling to glorify God.
2. Idolatry of any type cannot glorify God. The test of idolatry is two-fold. 1) The level of time and/or sacrifice that a person commits to an action over time. 2) The place of the activity or item to make us happy or disappointed. In other words, the place the activity or thing has in our hearts.
3. The supreme way that we glorify God through our everyday activities is by maintaining a clear witness to the saving grace of Jesus.

We might ask, “How do I cultivate these attitudes?” That is a great question! First, our life has to stop being about us. Jesus did not give His life for us to stay self-focused. He gave His life so that we could become properly God-focused. So, our life must become more about Him. Second, we must start practicing the question, “How can I shine for Jesus in the situation I am in?” When we are at the job we should ask it. When arguing with someone we love we should ask it. When we are enjoying recreation we should ask it. And third, we must never accept the notion that we cannot glorify God in the situations we face. Too often when glorifying God is challenging, it is the silly notion that we might be in a situation where we can’t glorify God which stunts our self-examination and turns off our God-ward thinking. If Jesus could glorify God while fishing and Paul could glorify God by making tents then you and I can glorify God in our everyday lives as well.

Is it a challenge, you bet! Sometimes, asking how we can glorify God will reveal that we have a sin that needs to be removed. What do we do then? We remove it! Sometimes, we habitually leave God out of certain parts of our lives. Breaking habits are hard. What do we do then? We start breaking habits! Sometimes, the other voices in our lives think that life hasn’t been designed to glorify God. They have bought into the idea that life is just happening. What do we do then? We listen to the voice of the One who died to save us!

It is a challenge, but it is a God-glorifying challenge. Will we rise to the occasion?

Something to think about,

Pastor John