For Bible references in this video, check the description on YouTube.
"Glorifying" God means giving Him all the honor and praise for all things and holding Him up to a high place of honor in your heart. Why should we glorify God? Well, He is the Creator of everything—including us!—and He alone deserves the glory for all the good things we see and experience (Isaiah 42:5, 8). Being glorious is a part of God's very nature, and when we give Him glory, we are acknowledging that we recognize His glorious nature (1 Chronicles 16:28-29).
In John 14:15, Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." So that leads us to the conclusion that glorifying God means that we obey His commands, living our lives according to His principles for life that we can find in the Bible (Isaiah 43:7; Psalm 19:7).
That then leads us to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, which is "whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." The next couple verses go on to talk about how we should live our lives in a way that always puts others before ourselves. Jesus was certainly selfless, and His life is a great example for us.
Anything done by a person who professes to be a Christian should give the world an accurate picture of who God is in righteousness, faithfulness, and excellence. Just saying you glorify God means nothing; you must actually do it!
1 Chronicles 16:29 talks about how we should "bring an offering" to God. What kind of offering? How about this kind: your LIFE. Glorifying God with our lives means that we correctly represent Christ with our words and actions (Psalm 103:17-18; John 13:35).
Let's apply 1 Corinthians 10:31 to whatever it is you're doing—whether it's taking exams, watching movies, participating in an online community, or whatever. You are a living representation of Christ because you claim to be a Christian, therefore, in all things you do, do them as Christ would do them.
For example, when you're in school, you glorify God by doing your best on exams, by respecting your teachers and classmates, by doing your best to be an excellent student. When you're watching a movie, you don't allow amoral or violent behavior to influence or shake your own convictions. When you're a part of an online community, you treat others with kindness and encourage them rather than be a troll.
God is holy, faithful, merciful, loving, and filled with grace for others. Glorifying God means that we live out those same attributes in our own lives—or least try our hardest to do so. It's not always going to be easy, and yes, we’re going to mess up sometimes. But it's OK. As long as we get back up and keep fighting our sinful nature, trading it for God's glorious nature instead, we will be glorifying God.
Glorifying God means that we obey His commands, living our lives according to His principles for life that we can find in the Bible (Isaiah 43:7; Psalm 19:7). Christians should give the world an accurate picture of who God is in righteousness, faithfulness, and excellence through their words and actions (1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 103:17-18; John 13:35). God is holy, faithful, merciful, loving, and filled with grace for others, and so should we be!
Cat is the web producer and editor of 412teens.org. She is known as "412teens" on the 412teens Discord. She loves audiobooks, feeding the people she cares about, and using Christmas lights to illuminate a room. When Catiana is not cooking, gardening, or practicing creativity, she enjoys spending time with her two kids, five socially-awkward cats, and her amazing friend-amily.
