Weakness OR power?

We must be careful not to have an "either-or" mindset when it comes to weakness/humility vs power/effort. To say it another way, humility does not negate the importance of excellence in execution. It only addresses the disposition (motive) with which execution is carried out. 

Excellence in execution should always be how we seek to honor -- bring glory to -- God. In fact, it is a significant part of how we do so. 

Many Christians exercise false humility as an excuse to not pursue excellence. As a result, many things "Christian" are often of inferior quality. I know, because I used to think this way. I took the attitude, "God loves me no matter what, so the quality of my work or the diligence of my effort doesn't matter." In one sense, this is true. As far as God's love for us, it does not matter. His love is based on the work of Christ, not ours. But as far as our flourishing and participating in and experiencing all that God has for us, all he designed us to be and accomplish, and bringing him the greatest glory possible, it totally matters. 

How can doing things with less than excellence be more honoring to God than things executed excellently? They can not. God is the overflowing God and author of excellence, beauty, majesty, bounty, love etc. 

How many times have we heard (or felt) regarding a "Christian" enterprise - such as a movie or song - that this is a "typical"  Christian production i.e. implying it is inferior -- not in substance/content of the message, but in presentation or form -- compared to what nonbelievers produce?

This has not always been the case. Think of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach or Michelangelo or the quality of education provided by some of the earliest higher learning institutions, such as Harvard and Yale. These were all the fruit of a desire to honor God through the diligent use of God's gifts to produce something excellent for his glory. 

Paul gives us an example of how we are to go about things. 

Col 1:29  For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. 

We are also told that whether we eat, drink or whatever we do, do all to the glory of God 1Co 10:31. This suggests we act not just with the intent of pointing others to him but with the degree of effort necessary to produce the best possible result/outcome for his honor. Loving God with all our strength (energy, effort) is part of the greatest commandment, is it not? This says great effort driven by a desire to honor God is superior to efforts seeking to exalt self i.e. God is superior to self.

If we have to choose between operating with humility and operating with excellence the former is always the better choice. No amount of excellence in itself will bring the greatest honor to God -- at least not deliberately i.e. it is not the intent of the producer. But if we can operate with both humility (1st) and excellence as a fruit of humility, that is the preferred option and should always be our ultimate desire and goal.

For a further discussion on the importance of excellence click here. 

For a further discussion on how a great outcome is in proportion to great effort click here. 

Is making a lot of money legit?

Is it legitimate to pursue making a lot of money as an end in itself? No.

However, note the above says the love of money is the problem, not money itself.

If we diligently pursue doing things with excellence for the glory of God, it is not only totally legitimate to be as productive and fruitful as possible, but what we are called to do. 

From the beginning in Genesis and throughout the New Testament, God's mandate to humanity was to be fruitful and multiply i.e. bear much fruit. This honors God.

This may result in financial success (and sometimes does, particularly if God gave you the temperament and skills to be an effective business person). But it's not automatically a guarantee. 

Since making money is not the focus (though it can clearly be a legitimate measuring stick of success under the right conditions), but the pursuit of excellence for Christ's sake is i.e., doing everything - including "business" - for God's honor (glory) regardless of whether we see a significant financial reward or not. 

We should always strive for excellence and never back off from being as fruitful as possible, both spiritually and materially. Doing things with excellence has more to do with effort and intent than outcome. Backing off from doing all things for God's glory is not optional. Honoring God in all we say and do is the calling of every believer.
 

What about our skills?

What if our skills and abilities, energy, stamina, strength, and mental sharpness have considerably dropped off with age or for some other reason, such as overall health or injury? Is this a legitimate reason to slow down? 

Because money is not the final measuring stick of a legitimate endeavor but intent to honor God is, we are still to pursue things with excellence regardless of our skills i.e. being excellent for Christ's sake always remains the ¹same even though our abilities change over time (some for better - like increased wisdom through increased life experience - and some for worse, like declining physical and mental stamina). 

Doing everything with excellence for the glory of God should ²always be our goal and modus operandi, regardless of the resources or skills we may or may not have; whether those resources change, decline, or increase.

What about excellence vs doing just enough to "get by?"

Excellence in the marketplace, in contrast to the lack of excellence, provides a greater opportunity to put God on display; to demonstrate that living for God is a more excellent and productive way than not living for him and living only for self-advancement. 

This is exactly why Joseph excelled in every circumstance he found himself in and was entrusted to oversee things wherever he went. He was eventually promoted to second in command in Egypt, probably the greatest nation on earth at that time. This led to great prosperity, which in turn was used to save many lives, including his own family. 

Truly knowing and living for God makes us more productive, resourceful, and excellent, resulting in greater honor to God and service to humanity made up of fellow bearers of God's image.

Excellence in attitude.

We are not only to be excellent in our effort but excellent in attitude e.g., humble, diligent, caring, grateful etc., which usually, though not automatically, leads to an excellent outcome. In fact, the right attitude leads to the right outcome. Therefore, knowing God is more excellent in the work environment (or any area of endeavor) than not knowing Him.  It is the superior way of living life. 

But we must distinguish between truly knowing God versus knowing about God. They are not the same. 

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Ecc 9:10  Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. 

Col 3:23  Whatever you do G4160, work G2038b heartily G5590, as for the Lord and not for men, 

Do – G4160

ποιέω - poieō - poy-eh'-o

Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct): - abide, + agree, appoint, X avenge, + band together, be, bear, + bewray, bring (forth), cast out, cause, commit, + content, continue, deal, + without any delay, (would) do (-ing), execute, exercise, fulfil, gain, give, have, hold, X journeying, keep, + lay wait, + lighten the ship, make, X mean, + none of these things move me, observe, ordain, perform, provide, + have purged, purpose, put, + raising up, X secure, shew, X shoot out, spend, take, tarry, + transgress the law, work, yield. Compare G4238.

Work – G2038b

ἐργάζομαι - ergazomai; from G2041; to work, labor: — accomplish (1), accomplished (1), accomplishing (1), achieve (1), committing (1), do (1), do...work (1), does (3), doing (1), doing...work (1), done (2), make...living (1), perform (4), performed (1), performing (1), practice (1), produces (1), traded (1), work (9), work be done (1), work do...perform (1), working (7), works (1), wrought (1).

Heartily – G5590

ψυχή - psuchē; of unc. or.; breath, the soul: — heart (2), heartily (1), life (36), lives (7), mind (1), minds (1), person (1), persons (3), soul (33), souls (14), suspense *(1), thing (1).

From G5594; breath, that is, (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely (the animal sentient principle only; thus distinguished on the one hand from G4151, which is the rational and immortal soul; and on the other from G2222, which is mere vitality, even of plants: these terms thus exactly correspond respectively to the Hebrew [H5315], [H7307] and [H2416]: - heart (+ -ily), life, mind, soul, + us, + you.

Thayer Definition:

1) breath

1a) the breath of life

1a1) the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing

1a1a) of animals

1a1b) of men

1b) life

1c) that in which there is life

1c1) a living being, a living soul

2) the soul

2a) the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)

2b) the (human) soul in so far as the right use of the aids constituted it that offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life

2c) the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body) i.e. put your heart into it. Do it with passion, spirit, and energy.

As a believer in business for over 45 years, I have wrestled with what is legitimate and what is questionable in "doing business." 

The following links are some conclusions I have come to so far, based on scripture first and my own experience, failures, struggles, and successes. 

For those who have wrestled with these same things, I trust you will find the below helpful. 

For a discussion on the fallacy of the health and wealth gospel, click here.

For a further discussion on excellence, click here. 

For a discussion on sowing and reaping, click here. 

For a discussion on legitimate vs illegitimate business, click here 

For a discussion on giving what you have, click here.

For a discussion on being diligence vs undisciplined, click here

For a discussion on resting in God, click here

For a discussion on whether competition is good or bad click here

For a further discussion on being diligent, click here

For a discussion on what is more important, great effort or great faith, click here

For a discussion on the fallacy of the health and wealth gospel, click here.

For a discussion of what exactly is money/currency click here.

For a discussion how faith is hard work click here.

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¹And as we mature, our walk with God should strengthen, so this becomes a more consistent and common part of our life, not less common.

²Whatever you have, no matter how much or how little, use it with all the faith, strength, and energy God gives you for his glory.

What is excellence?

To do things with excellence begins with doing them for God's honor. This is loving God with all our heart first, then with all our soul, mind, and ²strength. This addresses motive (heart) i.e. why we act. It is the 1st thing on the list for good reason.

When our heart -- the why -- is right, this is displayed through our words and actions i.e. to say and do things in such a way that others see that God is worthy of all honor - we value God by our actions. 

We ¹value God first and foremost, -- as well as others -- by what we do. This is to love God with all our ²strength - effort/energy - in addition to loving Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. 

The greater our value of the God of perfect excellence, the more we will be moved to excellent conduct. 

This excellence is honoring God before others as well as being honoring to God and being honored by God. If you've got it, bring it -- give it everything you have...for God's honor. This is the "why" of excellence.

What about the how of excellence? How do we do things with excellence?  

1. Bring everything you have (gifts/skills/resources) to a task. Leave it all on the field, as they say in sports.

2. Exercise those abilities diligently - with discipline i.e. practice - in carrying out that task. Practice does indeed make "perfect." It is stewarding well the gifts God gives us.

3. Do so with a servant's attitude (i.e. humility) recognizing all we are - with our unique talents and abilities - and have is a gift to use to honor the Giver. 

Valuing others.

To value others through excellent effort is to also honor/value God. Likewise, to honor/value God truly results in doing things excellently for others. 

Excellence toward non-believers

A non-believing boss (and others in general) may not agree with you and even dislike your beliefs but if your excellent effort helps them or their company do well and makes them look good, and improves their bottom line, they will appreciate it and value you for it. We see this throughout Joseph's life. 

Gen 39:22  And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.

If we bring value to others, whether they are believers or not, we will be valued; not to gain praise from ourselves but to bring praise (value) to those we serve (which often results in our being praised, though this isn't our focus). We do this ultimately and primarily to bring honor and praise to God, i.e. to value God is to honor him with our conduct and words toward others.

The greatest way to honor God in the marketplace is to do things diligently and excellently with the intent of honoring God. Doing things excellently is a form of worship and praise to God, but praise with and through our actions and projects, not just our mouths. We actually worship God when we live/work with excellence. 

To love others is to treat them with value. We do that practically by diligently applying our skills to help others.

The following passages are examples:

Dan 1:4  youths without blemish, of ³good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

Jer 29:7  But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Jer 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (it is worth noting this is said to them while they are in exile i.e. their hope wasn't in pleasant circumstances but in their union with God).

Doing things with excellence is a means of sharing the gospel. 

When people discover their beliefs don't fit reality i.e. they don't work --  don't produce excellent results -- this is an opportunity to show the way of Christ does. Our living in such a way that demonstrates Christ's way is superior (not we are superior) helps create dissatisfaction with their beliefs and may cause them to consider the way of Christ.

How do we show this? When his love moves us to produce excellent (and often better) results through our action/efforts and attitude.

Inferior efforts are not expressions of humility 

We often justify inferior efforts so as not to bring attention to ourselves. This has an appearance of humility but is often used as an excuse for less than excellent effort. Accepting shoddy results for the purpose of avoiding praise is false humility. 

Who are the saints? Those God's light shines through the brightest. How do we shine that light? By living excellently in all we say and do i.e. putting our light up on a stand so all can see it, not hiding it under a basket. 

Bring your "A" game for Jesus.  

To whom much is given, much is required.

To further discuss the importance of great effort click here.

For a discussion on when competition is legitimate click here.
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¹we value them only because we first value God. We value God only because he first values/loves us.

²The Bible speaks of loving God with all our heart soul mind and strength. Here I'm addressing strength i.e. effort/action, the last thing listed on how we can love God.

³if our appearance brings praise only to us, it does not honor God. But if it opens up doors and gives us an opportunity to show God's love to others we should make the most of it and use it to do so.

Appearance-attractiveness is valued in our culture so if God has made us attractive in the eyes of the world, use it to bring honor to God. Don't hide the gifts God has given you no matter what they are, but put them to use and on display so others might see them and be drawn to God and give him praise.

I'm referring to grooming, hygiene, and overall presentation. Modesty, of course, is also a part of beauty and a primary guiding principle.

 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 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 5:14-16

Excellence without anxiousness

How do you bring your "A" game and not be overly weighed down at the same time i.e. not become anxious over whether you will represent/honor/glorify God well?

By knowing you cannot and will not do things excellently on ¹your own, no matter what you do or how hard you try. Bringing our "A" game starts with and depends on God not us i.e. our humble dependence on God and his infinite love for us; our abiding in his love. Only His love empowers us to excellence. Unless ¹God empowers us by his love we have nothing within us to fully display  our highest capacity and gifts. So in this sense, it's not on us to bring out our best as far as the power or drive needed to enable us. 

It is, however, up to us to trust and depend on God to empower us i.e. fully believing he loves us to the extent he does. Our challenge in honoring God well is greater dependence/humility (trust) not greater execution. Greater execution is the fruit of greater dependence. Honoring God starts with humility leading to excellence in execution. 

Great achievement is the fruit of great execution. Great execution is the fruit of great effort. Great effort is the fruit of great power. Great power is the fruit of dependence on great love and its source i.e. God

Great power is released in and through us by, in and through great humility/dependence on God who is the source of all power/life/love/Spirit.

For more on doing things with excellence click here.

For more on the necessity of great effort click here.

For more on how God's love empowers us click here. 

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¹It is not by sheer will power we live for God but by the power of God's Spirit. The following passage lays this out. 

Ephesians 3:14

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father... 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit (of infinite love) in your inner being. 17 so that Christ may dwell (be present and abide) in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly - i.e. answer the above prayer - than all that we ask or think (than you may realize, ask for, or even think possible), according to the power (of his infinite love, by his Spirit) at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

This is the essence of how we live our life for God ...according to the riches of his glory..." i.e. the riches of his glory empower us (gives us strength) to live for God. 

The adoration of the immense worth/glory of God is the essence of the life and love of God himself. This life and love starts within God and is grounded in who he is, as the triune God; who constantly gives and receives honor/love among the Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit. 

This same life and love is now fully ours in Christ. It is accessible and extended to us because of His efforts, not ours. It is by this life (and only this life) we are enabled/empowered to live for God.

...he may grant you to be strengthened with power

...through his Spirit

...in your inner being

What drives and empowers us to live for God comes from within us, by Gods love/Spirit through faith. But not by us i.e. not by our efforts.

"...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,..."

Christ's love frees and enables us to grasp the full extent of that love so we are full of God (his presence) and power.

"...may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The strength to grasp the fullness of God's love comes from God. Without it we will not see him as the loving Father he is. 

20  Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Competition… Good or bad?

Is competition helpful or unhelpful? It can be either or both.

Unhelpful competition is rooted completely in performance for the sake of praise and approval of others. In this scenario, my sense of value is tied directly to doing better than the next person. If I do, I feel worth something and if not; I don't. In a word, if I don't win/produce/perform, I am a "loser." I am useless and worthless. My sense of value rises and falls on others' opinions about my performance.

Competition is so much a part of America's psyche and value system (even more so with older generations who didn't get "participation" trophies) that we often are not even aware of it. Just think of how ¹many folks are glued to their TV on the weekends watching a sports event or game of one kind or another. Maybe more than most, Americans love to win and we love a "winner."

Yet, basing our value on beating the competition is the exact opposite of the Gospel. Our true significance or value is based 1st on who we are as image bearers of God and not what we do. Our good standing and approval by God are based on Christ's efforts and performance, not ours. God's acceptance of us has nothing to do with our performance. In fact, our performance, in this instance, is an affront to the work of Christ. It says His efforts were insufficient for God to receive us, so we must "help him out."

And who are we? We are in God's image and if we are in Christ; we are the beloved children of the all-loving, all-powerful, always present, all-wise, and all-glorious Creator, the most valuable person in the universe.

If we are infinitely valued by the infinitely valuable, what does that say about our value? And if God, the infinitely valuable, cherishes us, how much does it matter what others say or think? That would be putting more weight on the opinion of someone who knows and cares nothing about you vs someone who has perfect knowledge about you and knows and cares about you perfectly. If our happiness rises and falls on the approval and praise of others, we should reassess our understanding of God's infinite love for us, i.e. we may not fully "get it" yet.

When is competition helpful?

Should we live productively with excellence? Yes, because God is most valuable -- most high/excellent and most deserving of our best e.g. all heart, soul, mind, and strength. How we conduct ourselves either honors or dishonors God. By living excellently out of a desire to honor him -- because he first honored/loved us -- we put on display God's great worth/honor. We do not compete to gain the praise, love, and approval of others by being "better" than someone else, but because we already are important, valued, loved, and approved by God, stirring in us the desire to honor him in all we say and do.

Competition can be helpful by bringing the best out of us. It pushes us to be the best we can be. It can raise our level of belief/confidence in what image-bearers are capable of. How much more so, those who are driven by the love and praise of God vs the love and praise of men.

We should welcome competition with others who are better than us. If we are secure in the love of Christ, we will.

When someone excels, it demonstrates a higher level of excellence that ²can be achieved in a given activity.  It raises the bar and sets a higher standard, inspiring others and us to do better. It brings the best out of us and gives us an **example and a higher target to aim for.

When we approach competition in this way, it isn't devastating when we lose. -- If it is, this is a clue that our identity and sense of value are too tied to our beating the other person. We may be disappointed we didn't do better, but only because we know we can and didn't. 

How is this different from typical competition? It is not a matter of being better than someone else but of being inspired to be the best "me" we can be.

When competition challenges us to become better, this is good and helpful. We should welcome and even seek this. Seeking to be the best we can be stretches us to use our gifts/skills to their greatest capacity, i.e. becoming the best stewards of what we are entrusted with -- honoring the giver of those skills.

In Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell had it right when he said: "...to win is to honor Him..."

For more on living with excellence, click here. 

For more on the necessity of great effort, click here. 
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¹Why is watching sports so popular? Not only because we like proving our value by beating the other guy or gal, but we draw our sense of identity from our team being better than the other team. If we don't have the time or are not good enough to play ourselves, we do the next best thing, we cheer for "our team" and feel important when our team wins and feel like a "loser" when they don't. Some folk's identity is so tied up in a sports team that they even get depressed or angry when their team doesn't win. Someone I knew well would go into a deep depression every time their team lost.

²You may have read or recall for years, several attempted to break a sub-4-minute mile. Eventually, Roger Bannister did it. Within weeks, many followed suit, even though attempts to break it before that had been a goal for years. Why? He raised the bar and showed it could be done, helping others to believe they might be able to do it also, inspiring all runners to achieve greater speeds. 

Being in awe...we are incurably religious

What is awe? Why do we all experience it and seek it? When do we experience it most? 

Let's take a closer look.

We are like God; in his image and were created to participate in and experience God's majesty, ¹glory, beauty, greatness, etc. To do so, there had to be a corresponding quality within us - i.e. the capacity to behold and experience ¹glory - that would enable us to partake of and enjoy his infinite worth, majesty, i.e. His ¹glory.

This is why we are so drawn to, fascinated by, and in awe of things that are bigger, greater, or more powerful than us. 

Such as a vast mountain range or a brilliant sunset, a raging volcano, a powerful storm, or a magnificent waterfall. The common word we use when experiencing these things is "awesome." 

We are drawn also to things that are simply beautiful, creative, and excellent. The more so, the stronger the pull and drawn to them.

But Why?

Our sense of worth is tied directly to our ability to be in awe of and enjoy God's beauty, excellence, greatness, power, and worth...in a word His glory. In short, we are created to worship - to acknowledge and praise that which is of great value-worth; the greatest and most worthy being the Creator of ²all things.

This is so much a part of our makeup that if we do not acknowledge God, we turn our desire and need to praise toward other persons or things such as celebrities or a successful sports

team or a highly successful athlete, a great (effective) leader, a vast array of stars, anything beautiful such as a beautiful woman, flowers, colorful birds or other majestic creatures, as well as nature in general...and we could go on. All of these display and express qualities within God Himself who created all these things. They are glorious because they display something of the glory of their Creator who is all glorious.

If our worship and praise are not directed to God it will be directed somewhere else. We are incurably religious and must worship (ascribe worth or value to) something or someone. We are created to praise and worship that which is greatest, most beautiful, and glorious.

Why are we irresistibly ³drawn to these things? Because they resonate with our desire for beauty and express something about God's beauty and creativity. But that is only because we are like Him, in his image, with the capacity to enjoy these things. We experience our greatest worth when we partake of His.

We experience awe very early in life. It is not something we are taught. Contrary to what the atheist says, we did not create God, God created us with the desire - and capacity - to enjoy Him who is awesome. 

We also enjoy receiving praise because we were designed (as God's image bearers) for praise; not only to praise (God or others) but to be praised (valued, feel significant). 

We are like little gods but to an infinitely lesser degree than our infinite, all-wise and powerful Creator; but like Him nevertheless. We are creatures who, like God, can create from things God has made and given us, though on a far lesser scale. We are not the Almighty Creator who can simply speak things into existence. 

There is only one eternal and infinite God. We are not Him. He alone is infinite.

God is most praiseworthy of all beings and we are like him but to an infinitely lesser degree, yet still like him nevertheless.

To be like God is to desire, to be able to enjoy, and to be in awe of God.

For a discussion on the need and desire for excellence click here.

For a discussion on our desire for beauty click here, here and here.

For a discussion on how we are created for glory click here.

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¹What would be the equivalent to the word glory today? If you look at the word in the original languages of the Bible (OT-Hebrew and NT-Greek), it gives us an interesting picture. 

Glory

Hebrew 

H3519   כּבד    כּבוד        kâbôd  kâbôd   kaw-bode', kaw-bode'

Definition:

From H3513; properly weight; but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness: - glorious (-ly), glory, honour (-able).

Greek 

G1392  δοξάζω  doxazō

Thayer Greek 

Definition:

1) to think, suppose, be of opinion

2) to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate

3) to honour, do honour to, hold in honour

4) to make glorious, adorn with lustre, clothe with splendour

4a) to impart glory to something, render it excellent

4b) to make renowned, render illustrious

4b1) to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged

From G1391

From the base of G1380  δοκέω

dokeō; from δόκος dokos (opinion); to have an opinion, to seem: - deem (1), expect (1), has a mind (1), inclined (1), recognized (1), regarded (1), reputation (3), reputed (1), seem (3), seemed best (1), seemed fitting (1), seemed good (4), seems (3), suppose (5), supposed (2), supposes (1), supposing (4), think (18), thinking (1), thinks (6), thought (4).

At first, it is not apparent how glory, as defined in the Old and New Testament, are connected. They seem to be very different. Is there a connection? If so, what is it?

During the Old Testament times, Israel was predominately agricultural, so the more weighty something was (or the greater the number, such as 1000 camels verses 100) the more valuable like 10 bushels are heavier and therefore of greater value than one bushel or several talents of gold weighed more than one. The greater or more "copious" the amount, the heavier its weight and the greater its value. 

To show forth or manifest the dignity and worth of something in the NT was to put it on display - show it off, if you will - such as shining a light on a copious pile of gold coins. This would reveal the greatness of its value. Or as the definition indicates "...to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged..."

Inherent in both these definitions is the central idea of great value or worth. By the simple fact that we are in God's image and therefore have the capacity to partake of, experience and display God's great worth/glory, makes us significant and of great worth. Nothing else in all creation - including angels -  can partake of God like we can. We can behold his infinite worth and display it to others unlike anything else. This is the essence of worship i.e. worth-ship...the state of being valuable, important etc. In displaying His great worth we bring Him greater honor but also experience our greatest worth and glory i.e. purpose and meaning in doing so.

²those very things we experience awe in when we encounter them. If temporary created things cause us to feel awe, how much more so their infinite Creator?!

³And we are also able to express these qualities in various ways.

All you can do is all you should do

New believers often wonder, "What is God's will for my life?" In asking, they are usually thinking of what career path or job they should take, where they should live, whether they should or shouldn't marry, and if so, who, and so on. However, though certainly important, these aren't the most important questions. Knowing God's will is simpler and more basic than this. 

Stated simply, God's will for us is to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. 

The question then becomes how do we individually best live out this most basic, foundational commandment, i.e., what does this look like for us practically? This depends on the unique way God has gifted us. Stated simply, we love others and honor God best through diligent use of our unique gifts, abilities, resources, and life experiences. 

What we are all called to do is love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (our greatest effort)... This is the same for all of us, but it will look different for each of us depending on our circumstances, experiences, abilities, gifts, and tasks before us. 

Once we know ¹our gifts, we are to use them for the tasks at hand. Knowing and exercising our gifts for His honor is our most important focus. God's will for us is no more than this, but certainly not less. 

For example, though the world needs saving, if God hasn't given us the ability and/or resources to save the world, then we should not try to save it. It's not our responsibility nor should it be ²our burden. But if he's given us the ability to teach or serve or encourage etc, we are to do so by His Spirit and with all the energy/power He works in us -- i.e., moved by his love for us and ours for Him in all that we do. It is God who works in us to will and do of His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

If you are a musician, play music well; if an artist, create well; if a teacher, teach well; if a parent, parent well; if a business owner, run your business well; if an employee, serve your employer and customers well; if a helper, serve well; if a writer, write well, etc. We should constantly be honing in, using, developing -- fanning into flame -- our gifts, no matter how simple or elaborate they are, or how widely they are or are not applied or acknowledged, to the greatest possible extent, for the glory of God. 

While at the same time not overly concerning ourselves with those things we are not gifted at. For example, we are all commanded to make disciples but that looks different for each of us. Those who have the gift of evangelism will have a unique ability to share the gospel with clarity, effectiveness, and energy/passion that we won't. However, we all can live out the gospel not only with our words but our actions through the gifts we have, resulting in others coming to faith. 

Whatever our gifts are, they should be used diligently, with all our might i.e. with excellence, for the glory of God. 

For a further discussion on excellence, click here. 

For a further discussion on knowing God's will, click here 

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Footnotes: 

¹What are your gifts? Two things that will help you find out. Ask yourself what you are good at. That's a good start. Then ask others, who know you best, what you are good at. When you have the answer, you have a very good idea of where to focus your energy and efforts. 

²God, however, may lay on someone's heart such a burden/passion for a particular challenge that a person will seek God for the needed resources to take on a task. They will not stop praying and pursuing it until God provides what is needed. A great example of this would be the George Mueller story. He built several orphanages and ran his entire operation solely by faith in God and dependence on Him for donations. He never asked anyone directly for funds, only God.