How To Glorify God: The Ultimate Guide

Christians glorify God as the light of His glory, which is His character, shines forth in them.

God desires us to be constantly growing in grace and the knowledge of His truth that we can impart to others.

By exerting every power to glorify God, we will have increased power with which to glorify Him.

God's glory is His goodness. When Moses asked God - Show me Thy glory, the Lord answered:

I will make all My goodness pass before thee. Exodus 33:18, 19.

Furthermore Jesus said: 

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. John 15:8.

God's character is summed up in the following verse: 

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 1 John 4:8.

The light of God's glory - the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth - is to be shed into the spiritual darkness of the world.

How to glorify God according to Jesus?

Jesus exalted the name of His heavenly Father. He taught His disciples to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Matthew 6:9.

And they were not to forget to acknowledge - Thine is...the glory. Verse 13. He carefully directed attention from Himself to the Source of His power.

Thus the wondering multitude, 

when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see, 

did not glorify Him, but glorified the God of Israel. Matthew 15:31.

Christ's followers glorify God by their good work. They bring glory not to themselves, but to Him through whose grace and power they have done that.

It is through the Holy Spirit that every good work is accomplished.

The Spirit is given to glorify, not the receiver, but the Giver. 

When the light of Christ is shining in the soul the lips will be filled with praise and thanksgiving to God. 

Thus Jesus will be magnified and self will be hidden.

I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: And I will glorify Thy name forevermore. Psalm 86:12.

Christ - the outshining of the Father's glory

Christ, the outshining of the Father's glory came to the world as its light. He came to represent God to humanity. 

It is written of Him that He was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power, and went about doing good. Acts 10:38.

This was the work He commissioned His disciples to do.

Ye are the light of the world, He said. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, 

and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:14, 16.

Father, glorify Thy name, John 12:28, was the keynote of Christ's life. If we follow Him this will be the keynote of our life.

He commands us to walk, even as He walked; and hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 1 John 2:6, 3.

In Christ's prayer offered just before His crucifixion He declared:

I have glorified Thee on the earth. Glorify Thy Son, He pleaded, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. 

O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me.

And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: 

that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:4, 1, 25, 26.

For the sake of others

We are to ask in order that we may give. The principle of Christ's life must be the principle of our lives.

For their sake I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified. John 17:19.

Thus our prayers won't be a selfish asking, merely for our own benefit.

Christ’s devotion, self-sacrifice and subjection to the claims of the Word of God must be seen in His servants.

Our mission to the world is to glorify God by cooperating with Him to save sinners and not to serve or please ourselves.

We are to ask blessings from God that we may communicate to others. The capacity for receiving is preserved only by imparting.

We cannot continue to receive heavenly treasure without spreading to those around us.

He wants us to be able to do better work for Him today than we did yesterday.

The Scriptures also tell us:

Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. Luke 12:48.

In other words, we are accountable for doing less than we have the ability to do. 

For all that we might become through the right use of our talents God holds us accountable.

We will be judged according to what we ought to have done, but did not accomplish because we did not use our powers to glorify God.

Do all to the glory of God

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1.

God calls for a living sacrifice - not a dead or dying one.

The end of our creation is to glorify God in our bodies and spirits which are His. 

Then the duty is enjoined on us to preserve that body in the very best condition of health, that we may comply with His requirements.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31.

God has given you a habitation to care for and preserve in the best condition for His service and glory. Your bodies are not your own.

What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19,20.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.

We are laborers together with God

Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Colossians 3:23.

And Peter exhorts the believers:

As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: 

that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:10, 11.

When these principles control our hearts, we shall realize that the work is God's, not ours.

Furthermore, when Christ and His glory are made first and love of self is swallowed up in love for souls for whom Christ died, then no worker will be so entirely absorbed in one branch of the cause as to lose sight of the importance of every other.

It is selfishness which leads persons to think that the particular part of the work in which they are engaged is the most important of all.

God cannot glorify His name through His people while they are leaning upon fellowmen and making flesh their arm.

Their present state of weakness will continue until Christ alone shall be exalted. Moreover, until they will say from a humble and reverent heart:

He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all. John 3:30, 31.

I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. Isaiah 44:3.

Earnestly seeking for light people will get illumination from God’s Word. 

It is through them that God will reveal that light and power which will lighten the whole earth with His glory.

What is our duty to Him?

That to render this glory to Him is to obey that law, or to submit to let that law work out in us God's character. 

In other words, fearing God and giving glory to Him is equivalent to fearing God and keeping His commandments.

This is emphasized by the fact that the aw of God is the great rule of judgment.

Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come...Revelation 14:6,7 first part.

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

This is the first and great commandment. Matthew 22:37,38.

Jesus didn't walk in a way to please himself simply, but to glorify God by working the works of God in uplifting fallen humanity who had been made in the image of God.

By precept and example, he taught people the way of righteousness, representing the character of God, and giving to the world a perfect standard of moral excellency in humanity.

The Lord God of heaven requires of humankind supreme love and worship.

How does the wise man express this truth?

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13.

The Lord has made ample provision that the heavenly graces will be abundantly supplied to all, that the truth as it is in Jesus will hold the first place in the heart and ever occupy the soul temple.

Ye are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, 

that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: 

for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23, 24.

"Hallowed Be Thy Name"

God would have us seek for those things that will honor His name. In no case we should glorify ourselves. 

We should seek God for grace and blessing, that we may glorify His name in our lives.

Moreover, God is glorified and His name is hallowed when through the lives of His children Christ is revealed.

When you pray, Hallowed by Thy name, you ask that it may be hallowed in this world and hallowed in you.

God has acknowledged you before humans and angels as His child. So pray that you may not dishonor the worthy name by which ye are called. James 2:7.

God sends you into the world as His representatives. In every act of life you are to make manifest the name of God. 

This petition calls upon you to possess His character.

You can not hallow God's name or represent Him to the world, unless, in life and character you represent His character. 

This you can do only through the acceptance of Christ.

Conclusion

To give glory to God is to reveal His character in our own, and thus make Him known. And in whatever way we make known the Father or the Son, we glorify God.

The light of His glory - His character is to shine forth in His followers. Thus they are to glorify God. 

Furthermore the character of God is manifested in His holy Law - the rule of His government.

His character is to be made known. Into the spiritual darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory - the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth.

Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee... Revelation 15:3,4.

So the followers of Christ are to shed light into the darkness of the world. 

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, God's Word is a light as it becomes a transforming power in the life of the receiver.

By implanting in their hearts the principles of His word, the Holy Spirit develops in men the attributes of God.

References:

1. GC88 311; PK 69; COL 415, 416; CC 365; DA 409; CG 448; ST, Oct, 1903; YI, Oct, 1894 - The Ellen G. White Estate

2. The Bible, King James Version (KJV)