When we think about the term glory, our first and obviously correct thought goes to God. So we think about what it means to give God glory, or what it means for God to be glorious by nature. Yet, we don’t think of ourselves as having glory. Usually when someone wants to glorify themselves, it comes from a prideful place. It comes at the expense of the glory that God alone deserves.

Even though we don’t think of ourselves as glorious, or having glory, the Bible shows that we do. Psalms 8:5 speaks of humanity being crowned with glory and honor, which makes us inherently valuable.

We have been made in the image of God, and because of that, we were made to reflect the glory that He gave us. Our glory shows in other ways as well. Besides our inherent value, our glory can be shown through the gifts and even the possessions we have gained in life. This aspect of glory is also known as one’s splendor. There’s an added weight of honor upon a person that has many possessions, because even though things don’t define who we are as humans, they magnify us visually.

The issue is that in our hearts we have the propensity to turn the glory inward towards us alone, instead of giving it out towards God. We look at all of the things we do have and who we are by nature, and we present ourselves as the most glorious. No matter how much glory humanity has, the nature of our glory isn’t self-sustaining. It can’t exist by itself, because it literally depends on God, the one who gave us glory in the first place. Also, humans are finite just like the rest of creation, so without the life of God we have an expiration date. Whenever you’re given something that you didn’t have to earn, to live pridefully as if you earned it by yourself diminishes its meaning.

When we truly give glory to God with the glory that we’ve been given, we are glorifying an eternal being of infinite worth! Our satisfaction in Him above everything else not only gives God the glory that He deserves, but He shines His glory through us the way it was meant to be shown. In a glorious exchange, giving glory to God also glorifies us, because He desires to share Himself with us.

God has never been on a power trip, amassing fame because He wants people to just grovel at His feet and say He’s the greatest. Nothing in His nature leads to self-centeredness.  God is glorious by nature, and it is fully reflected by the love that He gives, because love is who He IS. Love is not self-seeking, it looks towards others before looking inward. When we become like Him, the more glorious we become. There’s levels to this you know! We go from glory to glory when we become less self-seeking, and become more Christ-like.

Don’t diminish your natural worth. There’s nothing anybody can say or do that’ll take away the glory that God Himself crowned you with. You are amazing, and are built for greatness. Knowing the depth of your worth, live life humbly before the Lord, don’t exalt yourself above Him or anyone else for that matter. One of the great paradoxes of life is that the glory of greatness is shown through humility. The glory of whatever greatness you have decreases the more you try to elevate yourself because of it. Be glorious, but make sure it’s with a glorious exchange.