Questions 4 & 5

 

God made us. After he made us, he did not leave us alone. God still watches over us. He takes care of us. He does not forget us. He knows all of the things that we think and all of the things that we do. God is always with us. God is always working for our good.  God is always working in ways to complete his good purposes for us. That is why we should live in a way that gives glory to God.

 

The word glory sometimes means value or honor.* The Bible* tells the people who follow God that they should ‘give God glory’. That means that they are to show God the respect and give him the praise* that he deserves. We can give glory to God in many ways.  We can praise God by speaking well of him and singing praise to him. But we can and must also honor God in the things that we do.

 

We give glory to God when we trust him. All people have people in their lives that they trust. All people have people in their lives that they do not trust. When we trust someone, we show that we value their words to us. We believe that they will keep their promises. We believe that they have our best interests in mind. When we trust God in this way, we honor him.

 

We give glory to God when we love him. God wants us to love him with all of our heart*, all of our mind, and all of our strength.  Everyone has people in their lives that they love.  But God wants us to love him more than we love anyone or anything else. When we do, it brings glory to God[1].

 

We give glory to God when we obey him. Jesus said that the person who truly loves God obeys his commands.  When we do what God tells us to do, we show that we want to please him. We show that we respect his authority over us. We show that we believe that he knows what is best for us[2]. This brings him glory.

 

We are to trust God fully. We are to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our strength. We are to listen to him and obey his words. When we do, we give glory to God.

 

And, when we trust, love, and obey God, we can cause other people to give glory to God as well. When we watch children who are kind and show respect to others, we think well of their parents. In the same way, when people see our good works, it will cause them to ‘give glory to our Father in heaven*[3]’.

 

GOD IS ALWAYS WORKING FOR OUR GOOD.

 

Because God is good, we honor him when we do what is good. Because God is love, we honor him when we show love for other people. Because God is wise, we honor him when we make wise choices. Because God forgives*, we honor him when we forgive other people. Because God has been generous to us, we honor him when we are generous to the weak and those in need. When people see us live good lives in these ways, they give glory to the God we serve.

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[1] Philippians 1:9-11
[2] Matthew 5:16; 1 Corinthians 10:31
[3] 1 Peter 2:11-12