I’ve long held the belief that the number-one reason God created humanity was for His glory. We are an expression of God, made in His image and likeness, and in the sheer act of our creation He is glorified. However, given that we are created with freedom of choice, deciding to live a life that glorifies Him requires conscious effort.
I recently noted a change in my own thinking as I dwelt on the idea of living for the glory of God. In each of my decisions, I was asking myself whether the outcome would glorify God, or not.
Whether or not something will glorify Him should be the yardstick by which we measure and make all of our decisions.
Every single one.
Consciously glorify or fall into sin?
A life which glorifies God involves a mindset which continually questions the intent behind every decision.
Developing the practice of examining every decision leads to an increased awareness of how we end up in the tangle of sin that we could never have imagined becoming caught in. At the point of realising our sin, looking back reveals the string of small, seemingly insignificant decisions that we made without considering whether it would lead toward glorifying God or away from His will.
It is when we are not consciously considering whether our decisions will lead to glorifying God when Satan sneaks in and leads us along a path that will eventually lead to sin.
We have to question ourselves a lot more, and also be honest with where things will lead. Nothing we do is neutral. It will either lead us toward or away from God, and contribute to or detract from bringing glory to Him.
The art of stewardship
As I’ve played around with the idea of living with the sole purpose being to glorify Him, I have also been considering stewardship. It’s a word that seems old to me. One that’s being phased out of our daily vernacular. One that seems overly religious. Stewardship.
Yet it appeals to me so much in my quest to glorify God. To use what He has given me with wisdom and thoughtfulness, and with the purpose of glorifying God, is what ‘stewardship’ means to me.
Glorifying God requires good stewardship of all that we have at our disposal. Three things which seem most obvious are our money, our time, and ourselves.
Money. Good stewardship of our finances is commonly spoken of in churches, and perhaps receives too much of the attention when it comes to the concept of stewardship. Nonetheless, it is true that in order to glorify God, particularly in putting Him first above money, we should be good stewards of our finances, living sacrificial and generous lives, and keeping faith in Him to supply our needs.
Time. We all have 24 hours in a day, and seven days in every week. That’s a lot of time. Good stewardship of our time values activities that glorify God over things which simply use our time.
Ourselves. Good stewardship of our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies is central to glorifying God. I must admit it’s been the lowest on my priority list for too long. We are called to work hard being good stewards of the talents and gifts God has equipped us with. In order to do so for the long haul, we need to be diligent in being physically fit and rested, mentally sound and regularly rejuvenated, as well as spiritually nourished.
I would say it is bad stewardship to just keep spinning the hamster wheel of modern life. Not only is it a bad witness to the God we live for, but also leaves us working in and out of our own strength. We need to take the time to rest our bodies, minds, hearts and souls in order to then use them to glorify God.
Be encouraged
May we continue to grow in constant awareness of our decisions, and examine each choice with the following two questions:
- Does this bring glory to God?
- Is this good stewardship of what I’ve been entrusted with?
For the times we find ourselves in the snare of sin, may we know the grace and love of the God we live to glorify.
Chloe is an Australian writer. She loves weekend breakfasts with friends, and embraces life as an extrovert, a detail-oriented thinker, and a verbal processor. Her articles speak to herself just as much as she longs to share the lessons of her journey with others.
Chloe’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/chloe-alexander.html