“Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Our main motivation should be to bring glory to God in all that we do. I know that is a tall order, but I think that we need to seriously endeavor to bring glory to Him. Before we make a decision to do one thing or another, we should ask if we are doing it for the glory of God. I do not know what “it” means for you. “It” can be to sing in the choir, teach a Sunday School class, do a good deed for a neighbor, or whatever. The point is that whatever “it” is it should be for the glory of God. There are at least three ways that we can determine whether or not something is done for God’s glory. First, if you do this thing will you be able to thank God for it. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us of the importance of this: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” You will know in your heart whether you are serving for the glory of God, and when it is done, you will be thankful for the opportunity of doing it. Psalm 100:2 tells us to “serve the Lord with gladness.” This means that God lets us serve Him, and when we do a service for Him, whatever it might be, we should gladly do it and we should thank Him for letting us serve Him. If you serve in order to receive the praise of people, you are not doing it for the glory of God. This was a prevailing sin of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Jesus said that they prayed gave alms and tithes, etc. for the glory of people, not for the glory of God. This has become a cliché, but we need to remind ourselves that our Christian service is not for us but for Jesus, and He should get the glory for it. This does not mean that you should not have a sense of accomplishment when you do something for the Lord. We just need to remember that we did it for the Lord. Second, if you do this thing can you do it in Jesus’ name, or will you do it in Jesus’ name? Colossians 3:17 reminds us: “And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Notice that this verse also tells us to be thankful that we are allowed to serve God in some way. We need to ask ourselves, if I do this thing, will it be worthy of the name of Jesus. I don’t know if we would take this to the extent that if we water the flowers, we will do it in the name of Jesus and for His glory, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. We need to ask if a service that we are going to render is worthy of the name of Jesus. Let me show you where this would be important. Maybe you have something that you need to get straightened out between you and a fellow Christian. When you take the step to straighten it out, will you do it in a way to honor the name of Jesus, or will you do it to “get it out of your system”? If we can’t do a thing in Jesus’ name, whatever it is, we should not do it. Third, if you do this thing will it ultimately bring glory to God? 1 Corinthians 10:31, our text written above, tells us to be mindful of this. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” If you do “good works” in order for people say what a great person you are, you are not doing them for the glory of God. Again, this does not mean that you should not get a sense of satisfaction out of what you do. God would certainly not demand that of you. But we should be careful that the focus is on God and not on us. I will confess after preaching thousands of sermons over the years that this motivation is not always easy, because we want to know that what we do is appreciated, but we should be careful anyway that God gets the glory. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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