Glorify God

I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Your name forever (Psa 86:12).

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 15:5-6).

You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1 Cor 6:20).

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 (Matt 5:16).

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness (Psa 29:2).

We are designed to glorify God. We are commanded to glorify God. We are intended to glorify God. But what, pray tell, does it mean to glorify God?

Here's what the dictionary tells me. Glorify: To make glorious, To cause to be or seem more glorious or excellent than is actually the case. So, how do I make God seem more glorious than is actually the case? You might glorify violence -- make it seem more glorious than it is -- but can you make God seem more glorious? No, that can't happen. Maybe I'm supposed to make Him glorious? A prince who becomes a king becomes more glorious. Can we do that with God? Nope. He has that handled. What does it mean to glorify God? We cannot add glory to Him. We cannot make Him more glorious than He is. One definition says "worship". Okay, fine, but is that it?

To glorify God, then, is somewhat different than our normal human experience. Everything here has a worm in it. Everything can be spruced up, cleaned up, "glorified" by adding to it. God cannot. To glorify God means something different. God, the Most Glorious, can only be glorified by removing things. We can remove the blocks that occur in our own hearts, hiding His glory (Psa 86:12). We can remove the conflicts that exist between believers, uncovering more of His glory (Rom 15:5-6). We can lay aside the sins we indulge (1 Cor 6:20), learning to display in our actions His glory (Matt 5:16). We can recognize how short we fall in seeing Him for how glorious He is and ascribe to Him the glory He is due(Psa 29:2).

We cannot add to the glory of God. When we glorify Him, we can only do it by getting the garbage out of the way that we and others have erected to cover it. There are lots of ways to do it. Today's a good day to focus on it. Every day is a good day to practice it. We are, after all, designed for this purpose (1 Cor 10:31).