Honey, I Shrunk My Glory Focus
What does it mean, practically, to live for the glory of God?
It’s tempting to think that a God-glorifying decision means taking some massive leap of faith or making a drastic change in vocation or location. Sometimes that might be what God is calling you to, but most often, living for the glory of God means doing the same thing over and over again.
I love how mundane the examples are that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” We might not need to change anything, but whatever we do, we always need to evaluate the “glory-focus” lens through which we view everything.
Let’s go back to Genesis 1 and 2 and look through the lens of glory when God created Adam and Eve. There are four glories that were created to be the life-shaping focus of every human being.
(The first is the glory for which every human is to live, and the following three are glories that flow from the first.)
1. God Glory
We were made to be more connected to what is above us than to what is below and around us. Our lives were designed to be shaped more by our attachment to the Creator than by his creation.
In Genesis 1, God is on the scene the minute Adam and Eve take their first breath. He is there to command their allegiance. He is there to be the central focus of everything they ever think, desire, say, and do.
It is only in communion with him and in submitting all other forms of glory to his glory that we will ever find the satisfaction our hearts seek.
To glorify God every day, we must not shrink our glory focus down to chasing the pleasure of created glories.
2. Stewardship Glory
It is amazing as you read the story of creation to see that God carefully constructed his glorious world and then placed it in the hands of people. God gave Adam and Eve the glorious responsibility of being good and faithful stewards of every glorious thing he made.
We are designed to be God’s “resident managers.” We are called to care for the wide variety of amazing things God had purposefully crafted to be reflectors of his glory. Our vision of personal purpose is meant to be as wide as the universe that God created.
To glorify God every day, we must not shrink our glory focus down to providing only for ourselves.
3. Community Glory
Adam wasn’t meant to live alone. Adam wasn’t meant to be Adam’s best friend. The community that Adam and Eve were meant to live in with one another was designed to be the beginning of a huge web of interdependent human relationships that would define much of the focus and energy of peoples’ lives.
We were made to need one another, and this community was meant to exist in a variety of forms: family, friend, neighbor, church, city, state, nation. God calls us to the glory of a world-reaching, generation-spanning, and history-encompassing community.
To glorify God every day, we must not shrink our glory focus down to selfish, autonomous, independent isolation.
4. Truth Glory
Immediately upon creating Adam and Eve, God did something that he had not done with anything else he made. He spoke to them. Don’t lose sight of the glory of this moment!
The Lord, King, and Creator of the universe was speaking the secrets of his divine wisdom into the ears of the people he had made. God hardwired Adam and Eve with the communicative abilities they would need in order to receive his revelation, because the glorious truths that God would progressively unfold to them were meant to shape everything they thought, desired, decided, and did.
By themselves, they never could have discovered the things he told them. God was calling Adam and Eve beyond their own thoughts, interpretations, and experiences.
To glorify God every day, we must not shrink our glory focus to rely only on our thoughts, experiences, and personal interpretations.
Each of these areas of glory focus call us out of the tight confines of a self-oriented existence to something fundamentally above and beyond: living for the glory of God every day.
As you plan large and live big, as you eat a sandwich and sip water, remember to let God’s glory, stewardship glory, community glory, and truth glory alter the way you deal with everything that is on your plate.
A Prayer for Today: God, I’ll admit that I’ve failed to see and give you the glory you rightfully deserve in my everyday life. I’ve been narrow-minded and focused on myself most of the time, and I need your help to shift the glory focus onto you. Please work in my heart and mind to adjust my lenses appropriately and concentrate on you in the big and little things of life. I need you to help me glorify you. Would you make that a reality in my life? Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
Discussion Prompt for Children
1. What do you think the word “glory” means and what do you think it means to glorify God? Why do you think we have so much trouble glorifying God in our lives every day?
2. How is it possible to glorify God in something as normal as eating and drinking?
3. In what ways can I help you bring glory to God in your life each day? How do you think you can help me bring glory to God each day?
Reflection Questions
1. In what ways is your life being shaped more by God’s creation instead of the Creator himself? Take some time to list a few ways of how you can shift your focus from creation to Creator, and then pray and ask God to help you adjust your “glory lens” appropriately toward him.
2. How does your communion with the Lord bring satisfaction to your heart? How does glorifying him ultimately satisfy you? What practices or habits can you put in place in order to regularly bring glory to God and satisfaction to your soul?
3. How has independent isolation robbed you of the ability to see God himself in the relationships he has for you (family, friends, neighbors, church, etc.)? How has God used community in your life to help you grow and develop as a person, worshipper, friend, family member, and servant?
4. In what ways would you like to see God call you beyond your own personal thoughts, interpretations, and experiences? Can you think of some practical ways God might do that in your life?