The mercy to glorify

Live missionally. It’s what has been talked about the past few months at church and cluster. How do we glorify God with our lives in the real world? We talk about what we need to work on, what the Bible says that we need to do in Bible studies but does it end there? Do we just discuss it and feel bad about not doing anything and leave there with the same mindset? Or do we start living it?

In such an unbelieving world today, people are so quick to judge Christians on their actions. Their hypocrisy. Their Sunday – church going life and their everyday work life. Are we contributing to that? What are we doing that is setting us apart as Christians so that others are really inquisitive as to why we have the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15)?

Glorify. God is the King of Glory. He demands and deserves so much more of us than we are giving and have to give. He wants our whole heart, strength, soul and mind. He wants all of us. But mostly He wants our lives to reflect His majesty, His heart, and His glory. Glorifying God involves living in harmony with one another, being sympathetic, loving others as brothers, being compassionate and humble and not repaying insult with insult (1 Peter 3:8-9). It is seeing a need in a person and catering to those needs, whether it be listening to what they have to say or recognizing that they too are in a hurry and need the right of way. Glorifying God is seizing every opportunity that he sends our way to help out a person in need. It is too look after orphans and widows and to keep oneself from being polluted from the world (James 1:27). Finally, glorifying God is not merely listening to the word of God, but doing what it says. God demands action with our faith.

Glorifying God every minute of every day is not easy, but it starts with having integrity in every small decision that we make. It is deciding to turn off the tv and instead read the Bible. It is turning away from someone that has made you mad and restraining from a bitter and discouraging comment. It is being calm and patient with the driver in front of you instead of laying on the horn or getting angry. Even in this though, when we give all that we have, it is never enough. In comes mercy.

Without mercy, God would never get the glory that He deserves. Like the old chorus sings “His mercies are new every morning” we are able to be renewed day by day. Mistakes may have been made, wrong choices were made and we felt like we failed God, but He forgives. He showers us with mercy and grace (1 Timothy 1:13-14). This is glorifying God: allowing His mercy to cover up our sins and weakness so that we can bring all that we are to His feet.

I must confess that all this is right from my heart because I am so guilty of glorifying myself or other things before I bring the glory due to God back to Him. I am so quick to anger, quick to judge, impatient with people and so focused on myself. I have and am constantly asking for forgiveness and being forgiven for these sins that keep recurring in my life. His mercy is great enough to cover me so that I can still glorify God in my life. It’s a struggle each and every day but WE are doing it.