Praising God

Worship is praising God through love, deed, and action. Nothing pleases Him more than for us to raise Him above everything by faith in Christ and being led by the Holy Spirit (John 4:23). Our devotion to the Holy Trinity shows God our adoration for His sovereignty.

We can agree that God chose us to enter His kingdom. I didn’t do anything for this gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). Indeed, God decides the fate of one’s eternal resting place (heaven or hell). He is in control of my spiritual outcome.

Worship Through Love

Worship begins through loving God. Yes, when I show Him, love, I’m paying Him homage. The Lord watches me and notices when I show Him an affection rooted in conviction and praise. I must, without hesitation, give Him glory for this undeserving act of His compassion.

God’s two greatest commandments are love. We know this truth because Christ re-shared an Old Testament reality of what loving God entails (Deuteronomy 6:5 Leviticus 19:18).

Jesus said this about love worship:

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27, NKJV)

One thing we can unite with is showing God love with our entire being. This means centering our minds, bodies, and souls on His word and truth. I must, through perseverance, walk heartedly in His precepts. Even though I fall short of this divine commandment (Romans 3:23), God doesn’t abandon me (John 10:28). All I have to do is seek Him daily.

It may seem odd to worship God by loving others. But when I extend His love to others, I am glorifying Him. Since He is the creator of humanity and wants everyone to repent and enter His kingdom (John 3:16-17), loving my neighbor becomes an act of worship. However, I must show this love to those I despise (Matthew 5:43-48).

As shown above, love is at the core of worship. God places love as His top priority, and the only way to achieve this divine attribute is by putting faith in Christ (John 14:21).

Praise Through Deed and Action

One sign of salvation is praising God through deed and action. As mentioned earlier, redemption isn’t by working our way into heaven but His grace and faith in Jesus. Once I can accept this eternal fact, God uses the Holy Spirit to guide me in showing the world His absolute holiness (Ephesians 2:10).

Many people think worshipping God is all about singing songs of glory. Yes, singing praise to Him is significant, and it’s an uplifting spiritual experience. However, glorifying goes beyond singing because it includes good deeds and Christian action.

Prayer is worship and is an action that opens the door to Christian deeds. Jesus is a prime example showing us the power of prayer.

Christ spoke these words:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:12-14, NKJV)

In these three verses, Jesus tells us that works are a part of salvation and praying in His name, God will answer. Prayer is our only way of communicating with the Lord, and it takes action to open this channel. This means I must set aside time each day to connect with God. It’s easy to neglect prayer and make excuses to avoid its importance. What if God took this approach? Where would I find the answers to my problems?

A misunderstood scripture concerning salvation and works come from Disciple James. In his Epistle, he links faith with works.

James said:

 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:20, NKJV)

It’s this scripture that can confuse people. James isn’t discussing the origin of salvation. No, he is highlighting the direct link between faith and works. In reality, his divine inspiration heightens Apostle Paul’s message of the fruit of the Spirit.

Here’s Paul’s take:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV)

Through our faith in Christ, God uses the Holy Spirit to radiate good deeds through action. Each of these nine spiritual principles takes effort to exert ourselves. When I put these godly attributes into practice, it shows others the results of worshipping God. It’s a demonstration of the inner changes He works in faithful believers.

Summary

Given these points, worship and praise to God come in many manifestations. This is a partial picture of worship and praise. No, both the Old and New Testaments provide other ways to glorify God. It’s available to anyone who believes Christ is God’s Son and the world’s Savior!  

What do you believe?