Honoring the Lord in Everything

When we think about honoring the Lord, there are a few things that come to mind: Images of your hands in the air praising the Lord; Maybe bowing your head and giving him thanks before you eat your dinner. And while these practices are great, honoring the Lord can be so much more. And so, through this article, I want to look at a few ways that, in whatever we do, we can do it all for the glory of God.

​Honoring the Lord through our everyday lives

​If that line sounded familiar,  It’s because it’s In 1st Corinthians 10:31. Paul explains our task plainly in that “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” So, in a nutshell, our faith should be impacting every area of our lives.

​It can be so easy to only give the Lord the time of day whenever it feels appropriate. However, the Lord did not create us to pray or worship 24 hours a day. Instead, he gave us beautiful minds to create. He gave us fellowship with others. And most importantly, he gives us opportunities to show the Glory of God through everything we do.

​What does showing His glory mean?  What could this look like? If you're working on a paper, giving your best effort and making it the best paper it can be, that is honoring the Lord.  If you’re going on a walk outside and appreciating the beautiful creation around you, that is honoring the Lord. Even when you’re just simply eating dinner with a friend, counting it all as joy that you get to be there; that's honoring to the Lord!  It means giving your best effort and honoring the brain and talents the Lord has given you. It’s taking the hands and feet that he has given you and seeking opportunities to showcase the gifts you’ve been given and stewarding them well. When we honor God through the way we live, the effort we give, and the character we demonstrate, we give people the best reflection of Jesus’s love.

Honoring the Lord through our finances.

​This is a big one. For many of us, our finances are our livelihoods and our lifeblood. It's how we eat, it's how we shop, it’s how we function in this world. The Lord knows this, and He also knows the danger it can cause, as mentioned in Matthew 6:24: “ No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

​God knows that our finances are one of the greatest tools for His kingdom as well. See, God calls us to be wise stewards of the resources entrusted to us, and he wants us to do this with discipline, gratitude, and of course generosity. See in 1st Timothy 6:18 the Lord says that we “are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share”

​And in doing so, He gives us encouragement on how to honor him with our possessions. Because being a good financial steward, in the eyes of the Lord, doesn't mean having the biggest bank account; no, instead it means being the most willing to accept that we are merely vessels for the Lord to use.

​Once you believe the Lord owns it all, it makes it pretty easy to allow Him to directly influence how we steward our money. And when it’s His to use, it makes being generous that much easier. Because the Lord allows us to grow our wealth, but not so that we can have all of the fame and fortune, but so that we can use this wealth to help further the kingdom of the Lord.

​And so, to be God-honoring in our wealth, we should work diligently to provide for our needs responsibly, while also being willing to share what we have with the rest of God's people.

​And finally, honoring the Lord through having a servant's heart

Now this one is the trickiest, but one of the greatest avenues to honoring the Lord. Jesus provides us with the perfect example of a servant's heart. Take Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus gives the example that greatness is not measured by power or wealth or status, but instead by willingly serving. And if we want to honor the Lord, what greater way than to honor Him by being like Him and being a servant to others?  But what does this look like?

See, the Lord has given us all one of the greatest resources: time. He gives us 24 hours a day, and the beauty is that He gives us avenues to spend it in pursuit of his kingdom. And this can look like any number of things. It can be responding to the needs of others around you. So, volunteering in a food pantry or helping out a youth center. It also means a willingness to make ourselves available to the Lord. And recognizing that He has given us our gifts for a reason. And we should use these gifts to step forward whenever there are great opportunities to serve.

When we utilize this servant's heart, we give one of the greatest honors to God because we are giving a willing sacrifice. And in doing so, we honor the great sacrifice of all. What Jesus did on the cross for us.

In Conclusion

Our goal should be to honor the Lord every day. Not just in our alone times, or on Sundays and Wednesdays, but instead honoring him through our everyday actions, financial choices, and by having a servant’s heart.