There’s something innately human about our need for approval. A simple expression of “Well done!” from a loved one is equally effective in encouraging the heart of a toddler and an old man. It brings us pleasure to please the one we love, and conversely, the one we love finds pleasure in our good work. If this is true on a human level, how much more true is this of pleasing the One we were created for? The pleasure runs both ways. When we do things that please God, we give him glory and find the joy and purpose for which we are created.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins with this question: What is the chief end of man? The answer? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. Glorifying God is a theme found throughout Scripture, in which we ascribe worth and praise to God. It’s not that we have any power to add or subtract from the glory he already possesses—that would be impossible. But we point others to see God’s glory by how we live our lives (Matt. 5:16).
We say God is glorious and beautiful and worthy of praise by our choices, our actions, our words, and even the meditations of our hearts (Ps. 19:14). Whether our work and dealings are of global importance, or they are localized, or even invisible to others…we’re reminded that we can do all things, any thing, and everything to God’s glory (Col. 3:23)!
What does it mean to do all things for the glory of God? The Bible has a lot to say about it. Here are 20 verses to start your study.
20 Bible Verses About Doing All Things for God’s Glory
1. 1 Chronicles 29:11-14 (ESV)
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
2. Psalm 22:23 (ESV)
You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
3. Psalm 34:3 (ESV)
Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
4. Psalm 50:14-15 (ESV)
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.
5. Psalm 50:23 (ESV)
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!
6. Psalm 115:1 (ESV)
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
7. Isaiah 43:7 (ESV)
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.
8. Jeremiah 9:23-24 (ESV)
Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
9. Matthew 5:16 (ESV)
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
10. John 15:8 (ESV)
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
11. Romans 11:36 (ESV)
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
12. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
13. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
14. Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
15. Philippians 1:20 (ESV)
As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
16. Colossians 3:17 (ESV)
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
17. Colossians 3:23 (ESV)
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.
18. 1 Peter 4:10-11 (ESV)
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
19. 2 Peter 3:18 (ESV)
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
20. Revelation 4:11 (ESV)
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.
Live your life to glorify God
How can we describe God’s glory? On this side of heaven, we’re like Moses in the cleft of the rock — we glimpse only the back of his glory as it passes (Ex. 33:20-23). To see it in full would kill us. But as mysterious and overwhelming as it is, this is what we’re made for. We want to see it, as surely as we want his approval, and to find joy in returning glory and praise to his name.
In his sermon “The Weight of Glory,” C.S. Lewis wrote, “We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.”
That desire will one day be fulfilled if we are in Christ. This is another of the glorious realities of our union with him. When Christ, who is our life, appears, we will also appear with him in glory (Col. 3:4).
So for now, dear Christian, live your life to glorify God. In everything you do, from the majestic to the mundane, do it all for his glory. And someday, we’ll look back on the sufferings of this present age and find them not worth comparing to what stands before us (Rom. 8:18) — no longer the back of his glory as it passes, but the full and unveiled splendor of his face.
Glory be!
Cara
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