Have you ever wanted to know if you are making the right choice? How are we as Christians to be confident that we are pleasing God with our lives? In this post, we explore the difference between glorifying self and glorifying God and how to tell if an action is praising God or self.

What is glory?

The definition of glory: “praise, honor, or distinction given by common consent. Worshipful praise, honor, and thanksgiving.”

Merriam Webster

There are two types of glory: glory to self and glory to God. So, how can we tell the difference between glorifying God and what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and excellent, versus what is false, weak, wrong, distorted, ugly, poor-quality, and disgusting?

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 NKJV

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says if anything, boast about Jesus’ love, justice, righteousness, and friendship.

God gives us the ability to glorify

You can glorify anything, but that is not what God calls us to do. We are not called to overuse or abuse the moment of awe that brings about glory. God calls us to be good stewards of all that we are given, and God provides us with a spirit of joy, thanksgiving, and pride, discernment should be held strictly in place of its use. Emotions are a powerful thing, sometimes not welcome, but nevertheless gifted by God to man.

Why aren’t we worthy of praise?

“But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.”

Isaiah 64:6 NKJV

Another translation of Isaiah 64:6 says we are infected and impure with sin, the result of which is our righteousness being as filthy rags.

We as fallen humans will never be all truth, all righteousness, all loveliness and purity, all admirable character and excellence on our own, so we will never be worthy of glory.

Why is God worthy of our praises?

God is worthy of praise and glory because He was not gifted the good things about His character or His life. He did the work; He reaps the benefits. We, on the other hand, are given a chance after chance with God to make a change. With God, we have good things, with God we have good character, with God we have life.

So it is crucial to make the clear distinction that occasional praise should be given to good things, eternal, heart-centered glory should be given to the only being who is eternally and forever good, God. Every strand of His being consists of glory, majesty, beauty, nobility, righteousness, love, and all the other traits the Bible tells us to hold in our minds.

We don’t earn the good; the good is given to us. Therefore, we have won no praise or glory.

What does glorifying self and glorifying God mean?

Glorifying self means to boast and to be prideful of our works and character.

Glorifying God means worshiping and praising God.

I want to bring up Jeremiah 9:23-24 one last time as it gives a beautiful definition of self-glorification.

In the NLT version of this passage, it says, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24 NLT

Displaying our righteous deeds is the same as dirty rags—it’s a sign of a prideful heart.

Glorifying self is any action we do that comes from a heart of pride. We can make the right choice for the wrong reason. Humankind may never realize, but God will. He doesn’t judge from outward appearances, God judges from the heart.

Glorifying God is the action of meditating on the splendor and power and love of God. Meditating on scripture–on God’s word, happens in your heart, meaning wherever the heart is, the body will follow. If you live your life, making decisions, with a heart of gratefulness for God and amazement of God, He will guide your steps towards Him, which brings Him glory.

why does it matter?

“The vindication of God’s glory is the ground of our salvation, and the exaltation of God’s glory is the goal of our salvation.”

John Piper

To give God glory is the very reason God created us. Do you want purpose in your life? Glorify God in all that you do, whether that means eating, drinking, sleeping, school, work, or preaching to the wolves. Our everyday life should be showing others the beauty and splendor of our creator (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Knowing the difference between glorifying self and glorifying God means saving yourself the time and energy you use worrying about if God is pleased by our choices. if you know how to determine the difference in your heart, it will make priorities fall into place, making the most out of your time. You can read more about this on my other post about making the most out of your time by making God first.

When we live with the purpose we were designed for, when we walk in the light of God which He calls us into when we know who we are in His design, we will glorify God with all within us, and the result will be earth-shattering, heart turning, powerful stuff.

How do I tell the difference?

To tell the difference between glorifying self and glorifying God, we must first check our hearts. Is this mindset or decision coming from a prideful heart? Or one filled with God’s praises? Only God is worth our ability to glorify something or someone because He alone is truth, nobility, righteousness, purity, admirable character, excellent handiwork, and most of all, love. When we live with His heart, we live a life full of beauty and grace, for ourselves and others.

Until next time,
-Alycia

Lastly…

Dear God,
I thank you for giving me eyes to see your beauty, sprinkled throughout your creation and the character of others. Thank you for your heart, ever ready to forgive when I stumble. Thank you for your patience and gentle hand, carefully opening and closing doors, nudging my heart to make the right choices.

God, I struggle with pride and doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Give me your heart, Lord, change and mold me with your love. You alone can do the work in me, and I am choosing to allow you to do so. Give me the strength and endurance to choose your heart in the small decisions as well as the big ones.

I give you my dirty, lie-believing, weak, distorted heart. Remove this heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh. Thank you for your power and skillfulness, you are indeed the best surgeon, and I put all my trust in you.

For the glory of God,
Amen.