1 CORINTHIANS 10
29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. – 1 Corinthians 10:29-33
1 CORINTHIANS 10 DO ALL THINGS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
As believers, our focus must be on giving God all the glory
To praise and honor God, we must be undefiled and holy
If we do things to feed our flesh and satisfy our cravings
It is not honoring God because the self becomes first
But if we do all things to bring pleasure to God
We will stay faithful and continue to give him laud.
In this letter, Paul explains the importance of giving all the glory to God. In John 3:30, John the Baptist says this statement: “He must increase, I must decrease.” Just as John acknowledges that God must get all the glory and whatever he does must point to the Lord, Paul reiterates that concept. According to Wikipedia, Charles Spurgeon, a well-known evangelical Baptist preacher in London, used the phrase “what would Jesus do” in quotation marks several times in a sermon he gave on June 28, 1891. In his sermon he cites the source of the phrase as a book written in Latin by Thomas à Kempis between 1418 and 1427, Imitatio Christi (The Imitation of Christ). If we reflect on WWJD, wouldn’t we be giving God the glory? As the Son of God, Jesus never did or said anything that didn’t come from His Father. He never operated on his own and his whole life on earth was to fulfill his Father’s plan, He worshiped and praised his Father all the time by the way he lived and by speaking only the truth. We were given the Holy Spirit the moment we believed in Christ and the role of the Holy Spirit is to bring praise to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. If we walk in the Spirit, we will surely be giving laud to God and our Lord.
REFLECTION
- What would it look life if a believer does all things for the glory of God?
