I hope that by the time you have gone through this article, you will choose to make giving glory to God your highest goal in life, if you have not done so already. And if you have, I rejoice with you, and I pray you will be encouraged to press on with God, and never give up on your commitment to always honour God with your life.

1. What I mean by Glorifying God

First, let me give a brief description of what I mean by glorifying God, so that the context of my message is clear to everyone.

Simply stated, glorifying God is:

• Honouring Him with praise, admiration, gratitude and worship.
• Showing His greatness and excellence through your conduct, use of your talents, and the fruits of your life.
• Seeking to know Him and to see things from His perspective.
• Valuing what He values and acting in a manner that shows that you do.
• Helping people to recognise Who He is through what you say and what you do.
• Trusting Him, giving highest priority to what He says, and following His instructions.
• Discovering and fulfilling His purpose for your life.

The words of God from the Bible can be likened to a mirror in the sense that when you ponder on them, with God’s help, you will be able to see if any area of your life needs changing to make it more like God desires, just like a mirror can show you if your hair is scattered or properly combed, and whether your lips are dry or adequately moistened. So, let us look at a few scriptures and consider their meaning to see what God is expecting of us in relation to bringing glory to Him.

First Scripture:

Colossians 1:16 “By Him [Jesus] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. ALL THINGS WERE CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM.

Understanding & Considerations:

• ALL things, be it in heaven or on earth and whatever their authority or power, were created through God and for Him.
• Do you recognise that God created you?
• If you know that to be true, do you seek to understand God’s desire and purpose for your life? How that you may please Him?
• When you look at the anatomy of the body and the amazing way in which it functions day after day, can you conceive that your formation was by chance? Or is it more likely that a master designer was behind it?
• Do you think you are serving the purpose for which God created you?
• As you can see from the text above, the scripture says you were created through Him and for Him. Would you say you are for Him or against Him? Does He come into consideration in the way you live and make choices in life?
• Are you fulfilling God’s purposes in your position of authority?
• Do you know what God requires of you?
• If you do not know what God requires of you, should you not be taking steps to find out? Or will you just leave it all to chance?

• Can you see that God does not lack anything, but He recognises and is pleased with whoever praises Him?
• Are you living a lifestyle of praise knowing that this will glorify God?
• Do you imagine that God is hungry and wants to take something from you?
• Have you acquired any experience that makes you think that God needs your good will or possession for His benefit? Is this true in the light of what God has said about Himself?
• Do you not stand to gain more by honouring God who has allowed you access to His resources?
• Were you not born naked and was your care and upbringing not under the supervision of another?
• Have you now grown so much that you have now become God’s counsellor?
• Do you really think your perspective and understanding of matters is greater and more reliable than God’s? Can you say that is true even on the basis of your own life and personal experiences alone?

• Jesus, honourable as He was throughout His lifetime here on earth, devoted Himself to glorifying God by completing the work God gave Him to do.
• Is this not an example worthy of emulation?
• Do you know what work God has given YOU to do?
• Are you doing the work as commanded by God?
• Are you committed to it, pursuing it and progressing in such a way that you will finish it?
• Are you doing all you can to avoid distractions?

• Do you seek FIRST to please God or are you seeking things first?
• Is the reward of seeking after things greater than seeking, knowing and pleasing God?
• Do you value possessions more than life?
• Do you not need life, peace and health to enjoy your possessions? Can you purchase the former as you would commodities?
• It is wise to seek God first.
• What He desires and how to please Him and be right with Him should be your first priority.
• When you do that, He promises that ALL the other things you need shall be given to you.

• The value of your soul in God’s hands is more profitable than the value of the whole world.
• How much value do you place on your soul? Do you appreciate your soul as much as God does?
• Have you heard of anyone leaving the earth with his/her possessions?
• Is it worth sacrificing an eternity with God for the lusts of the flesh?

• In view of God’s mercies, He expects you to treat your body with respect and in a manner that is acceptable to Him.
• He does not expect you to subject the body that He gave you to any form of abuse and does not think this is too much to ask.
• If you do not conform to the world system, you will be able to prove God's perfect will for your life. Is this not a challenge worth taking on?
• Do you not want to prove the perfect will of God for your life?
• Are you presenting your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God? Or are you subjecting it to whatever abuse that comes?
• Are you aware of any temptations you have no resistance over?
• Is it not worth gaining help from God to resist these temptations in order to please Him?
• If you have to do your laundry everyday, eat and drink everyday and exercise to keep fit, do you not see the need to renew your mind?
• That being the case, would you not choose and apply the best resource that God has given (the Bible) for your mind renewal, or are you content to entrust your mind renewal to television, radio, newspapers, tradition or public opinion?
• Does the world mean so much to you that you are not prepared to hear what God who created it has to say?
• Have you acquired so much wisdom that you now think yourself wiser than God?
• If you consider God to be wiser, would you not rather do what He says?

• If you are born again and belong in the body of Christ, you are one of God’s own special people for a reason.
• That reason given in this text is that it is so that you may proclaim God’s praises.
• You have been brought out of obscurity and darkness into God’s marvellous light where others can see the glory of God in your life and through your conduct, use of your talents, accomplishments and witness, others can be touched and reconciled to God.
• You have obtained mercy for your sins because of God’s goodness. Is it not time to sing, tell and to show it. Or would you rather hide your light so no-one can see or benefit from it?

In this article, I have described what it means to glorify God and shown you that God expects and deserves your praise. Using simple questions, I have brought out certain understanding and considerations to help you to choose to commit to a life of praise to God.

When you begin to praise God, you will see that it is more for your benefit that you do so, because:

• God favours those that praise Him.
• Praise moves God to perform miracles.
• Praise shows your faith and brings answer to your prayer.
• Praise coupled with fervent prayers break barriers that cannot otherwise be broken any other way.
• You can hear and know the voice of God when praising Him.
• Your praise will help others to know, trust and seek God, making your witness effective.

If after reading this article you feel in your heart that you want to know more about how to glorify God with your life, then please get in touch with me and we will be very delighted to assist you.

Peace from God, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Rev Ola Stevens
Mobile: +44(0) 7940 784 696
Email: pastorola@praise-church.com

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