Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  1 Corinthians 10:31 NASB

Glory is defined in the dictionary as high renown or honor accomplished by notable achievements. Our Sunday School lesson this week is about how our being in God’s will brings glory to God. You may notice that the title of our blog today is also the title of a hymn. This hymn was written by Fanny Crosby and music was by William Howard Doane. It is believed to have first been published in 1875, but was not made popular in the U. S. until Billy Graham incorporated it into his crusades at the urging of his song leader Cliff Barrows in 1954.

This hymn in the 2nd stanza speaks of the perfect redemption offered to even the vilest offender who believes. In stanza 3 it speaks of the great things Jesus has taught us and has done.

I spent many years in my life trying to bring glory to me. There, I said it. I got that out. I had lots of quick clever comebacks and I like to use them to show people that I could one up them anytime. It didn’t always make me the most popular girl in the room, but it gave me a great sense of satisfaction. In my mind, it brought me glory. Now I know many of you are reading this and you are all aghast that I would dare seek to bring myself glory, but if the truth be told I am sure that this is more common than not. You see, we all want to be thought of as smart. We often lift ourselves up by putting others down.

But there is a huge problem with this. You see, we are not meant to be glorified. We are meant to be justified. We are dirty and need to be made clean. We are miserable sinners that need to be saved. God is meant to be glorified. Our scripture passage today tells us that whatever we do, it should bring glory to God. We should bring God glory, but sadly I spent a large part of my life grieving the Holy Spirit. We are told in Ephesians 4:30 that we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit by whom we were sealed for the day of redemption. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19 we are told not the quench the Spirit.

We glorify God when we trust Him and obey Him. We bring glory to Him when we allow Him to guide us. We bring glory to God when we trust in His timing and don’t rush into things on our own. When I have stepped out on my own I have made a mess of things. But, when I have trusted in God and followed His plan and done things His way, things have worked out well for me.

Romans 8:29-30 tells us that those that God foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. We know that God knew each and everyone of us when he formed us in the womb. We are all predestined to be imitators of Christ. Those who are predestined, He called and those whom He called, He justified. He made us as if we never sinned. And those of us that He justified, He glorified. If we are willing to accept God’s call on our lives and become imitators of Christ, God will justify us and cleanse us of our sin. He will glorify us. Our goal is to spend eternity in glory with God the Father. By accepting Christ as our savior, we start the process of our perfection in Him. This process is completed on the day that we begin eternity in glory.

But for right here, right now, is your life bringing glory to God or are you grieving the Holy Spirit? Sadly, you are either doing one or the other, there is no middle ground. Either we live for Jesus or we live for ourselves. I spent enough years living for me and I can tell you that did nothing for me. Strange how that works isn’t it. But once I devoted my life to Christ and began to live for Him and strived to bring Him glory, things began to go a whole lot better for me. I was given a peace and a joy that is more than I can explain. You have to experience it to understand.

I am asking you today to give God the glory in your life. Answer His call, trust in Him, confess your sins, repent and do your best to imitate Christ. Then and only then can you truly experience the greatness of life lived with Him.

To God be the glory, great things He hath done!

Have a great day!