Is Your Goal God’s Glory?

At the end of 1 Corinthians 10 Paul writes a statement that contains some pretty good words to live by. He is continuing the discussion about eating meat offered to idols…obviously a large issue in the church at Corinth. He sums up his argument and advice with the following sentence: 31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. The immediate context is the eating or drinking of things offered to idols; but the principle runs deeper than that. We’ve talked about the tension between knowing how to manage your decisions and the feelings/opinions of others. And maybe Paul’s words here run a lot deeper than even that. “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” If we would heed those words, we would find ourselves in a better place to resist temptation (yesterday’s post) and I think we would find ourselves in a better place to make both large and small decisions. “Does this decision bring glory to God?” Now, I don’t think we know the answer to this question if the choice is between a cheeseburger or a fish sandwich but if you “drill down” a little on the likely consequences of your choice in most matters, it’s not that difficult to rule some things out as definitely not bringing glory to God.   Right?

If our goal in every decision is to bring glory to God, I think we are most likely going to make the right decision. It might not be what we want in the short term, and we might not even see how the long term consequences are in our best interest, but if we see our decision as the best way to bring glory to God, then we are assured that ultimately, it will be best for us as well. I hope that your goal is to bring God glory.