I will glory in the Lord; Let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Psalm 34: 2.  

Rejoice in the Lord always. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Philippians: 4: 4-5.

Rejoice in the Lord and glory in the Lord!. We see this same message throughout the Bible. We as lowly humans acknowledge that God is One to be glorified. To glory in something is to rejoice with pride in whatever that is. In some ways, this could take the form of boasting. We admonish children not to be too boastful about something that they have done. Pride in our accomplishments is good, as long as we remember who truly is worthy of being glorified.  

Glory is  a word used in the Bible to “describe God's eternal splendor and majesty. . . .. God created people in his image to share in his glory, and he endowed them with gifts, enabling them to honor Him with their lives.” To glorify the Lord entails much more than words of praise. It includes using those gifts we receive to serve other people and our planet to honor God. Many gifts such as patience, faith, healing, wisdom and knowledge, among others, are given to us. We can rejoice with our voices as we share the Gospel, or sing songs together.  

Gentleness is the gift mentioned in our verse from Philippians. The same word is also translated as moderation. Those who use this gift need to do it publicly in a way that “everyone” can see it. Maybe we hold the door for another person even though we are in a hurry. It will be known by everyone that Christians are gentle and caring and not given to excess. As the verse says, it will show that the Lord is near. It is certainly a way to glory in the Lord. In the same way anything we do and accomplish. The same applies to the other gifts we receive – when we use them to glorify God and help others, we also lead them to rejoice in our loving God.    

Lord, help us to glorify you in everything we do. With our whole hearts we sing to you, O God, for sending Jesus to show us how to live. We are far from perfect, but if our caring ways can point to your incredible love, then praise to you, our Savior. May the joy we feel because of his presence be evident in all we do. Amen.  

Chris Gabel 

Ministries
Teaching Mission Party