Glorifying God

As one who enjoys writing, I find it entirely frustrating when I have so much bubbling in my mind to say, yet when I sit to pour it all out, I end up with a mess. How I need a mental funnel! That said, let me attempt to put together a sensical post.

In his book, Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper talks about our God-given purpose on earth, the very reason we are here, which is to glorify God. Piper talks about the word "glorify," and how it is often misinterpreted. We tend to think that to glorify God is to "bring beauty" to Him. But, alas, we cannot add to God's beauty- it is impossible! Piper goes on to explore another definiteion of "glorify" which is to magnify. This can also be misleeding if we look to make the One True God bigger than He already is- another impossible task. However, if likened to the way a telescope magnifies, we would have a much better definition of our purpose. Piper writes, "With the Hubble Space Telescope, pinprick galaxies in the sky are revealed for the billion-star giants that they are. Magnifying God like that is worship....God created us for this: To live our lives in a way that makes Him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that He really is."
How often I have spouted the terms "To God's glory" "Be glorified, Lord." and so on, but without having ever stopped to consider what this truly means. Alongside that, we are to conform to the likeness of Christ, and in truth, if we are glorifying Him, we are "to image forth in the world what He is really like." So that causes me to ask of myself, "Am I bringing God glory? How much of myself, my life, causes others to see Christ when they look at me?" Whew. Yikes. (((slides down in chair))) This is something I DO ask myself often and its such a difficult answer to give. I hardly feel as though God is being adequately glorified, even if measured to the limited extent of my ability, but the other end of that, is when I am trying my very best to deflect ones attentions onto the Lord, where it properly belongs, my efforts seem fruitless. Constantly.
Here is my newest resolution. I resolve that I would not fit in. Should you line me up with 5,000,000 non-believers, that I would grossly stick out. That if the Lord should return to the Earth during my lifetime to scoop up His children from the world, that I would not so resemble the world that He would not be able to easily find me. And to that, should anyone be searching for their Savior, that Christ would be so prevalent in me that God could use my life to show Himself to that seeker, if that makes any sense.

Here, John Piper explains it better: