The Difference in Living for the Glory of God

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

The past couple of days I have been thinking and spending some time mediating on this verse. I wonder how much any of us really take it seriously. I am firmly convicted that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. In the context of this verse, Paul has just dealt with the issue of the Gentile meat which was offered to idols and those Gentile converts who could not get past this idea when they were offered meat in the market. While everything clearly is from God (I Corinthians 10:25-26), Paul does speak of being careful not to lead one into stumbling who may not be able to get past the fact that this meat would have been offered to pagan gods, which are not gods at all, of course (vs. 28-29). Instead Paul points out that the real issue is one of one's attitude and not what they eat. The attitude that one should have should be to do everything for the glory of God. It does not matter so much what you eat or where you got it from, just whether you are eating for God's glory. If you are concerned about living for God's glory, you will make sure not to offend anyone and would be seeking to profit others and not yourself (vs. 32-33).

The question is, what is our attitude? Jesus pointed out that it is not what we eat that defiles us but what we say since the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile a man (Matthew 15:18). I took some time to think about my attitude this week to see if I lived out this verse of having an attitude of glorifying God in everything which I did. Unfortunately I found myself lacking in many areas. Think back the past week and recall how much of your lunch or dinner conversations were glorifying to God. Would He be pleased at what you looked at on the computer or what you watched on the TV? What about the words in which you said while sitting in rush hour traffic or at that stoplight that would not seem to ever change? So many times we let pride creep in and we fall into the trap of glorifying ourselves and not God. We could even be doing something we say is for God but instead be desiring to draw attention to ourselves. We need to live out Galatians 2:20 and crucify ourselves with Christ and live for Him and not ourselves.

Think about the difference living for God's glory in everything you do would make in your life. How different would things be if you imagined Jesus physically sitting at the dinner table with your friends or family? Would you still be able to tell that crude joke or gossip about a neighbor? What about if Jesus was sitting next to you in the midst of traffic? Could you still yell the harsh words out the window? Would you be able to watch the terrible TV show with Jesus right beside you? Well Jesus is not physically with us, but His Holy Spirit does indwell us and we are told not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). If our focus was on doing things for God's glory, we would be more mindful of others and seeking to benefit them as vs. 33 points out. We would be living a life more pleasing to God because we are seeking to please Him and not ourselves. I want to encourage you to live out this statement. Before you do anything or even while you are doing something, ask yourself the question about whether or not it brings glory to God. If it does not, that should be an indication that you should not be doing it. Let us make Christ the center of everything and go out and live for His glory!!!

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. ~Colossians 3:17

In Christ,
Lee
Soli Deo Gloria!