My life verse is 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
This verse became my life verse the summer of 1993 when I gave my life to Christ. I had lived up until that point as a person who believed the teachings of Bible; read them, prayed and generally engaged in church attendance and other Christian practices. I understood the plan of salvation and had prayed to receive it. But I had not surrendered my daily life to Christ. I had not let God be my God in the practical sense of who would determine how my life would be lived. I was still my own god and followed my own path rather than Christ's.
I mixed what I wanted from the Christian faith with what I wanted out of life. This turned out to be a dead end road for me, resulting in misery, loneliness, emptiness and hypocrisy.
The summer of 1993 I ended my old way and fully surrendered my life to God no matter the cost of consequences. 1 Cor. 10:31 was one of verses I read which most embodied what my new way of life would mean. Now, everything I lived my life for would center around God and His glory rather than myself. Every thought, attitude and action could be evaluated in light of this one all-encompassing idea, "Do it glorify God? or "Can I do this to the glory of God?"
In my journey to discover how to live for the glory of God I made dozens of hard decisions every day. Some seemingly radical to my peers, parents and teachers. Looking back I can see that many times I was mistaken in what my understanding of how to best glorify God with my life but God graciously used me and blessed me despite my ignorance. My understanding of how to best glorify Him in the smallest and biggest pieces of my life have changed lots over the years and I expect them to continue to change. But I pray that my pursuit of His glory never changes.
One of my favourite things about this verse is the repetition. WHATEVER YOU DO... (that is, in everything you do), WHETHER EATING OR DRINKING... (that is, in everything you do), DO IT ALL (that is, in everything that you do). Three times it is made clear that this command is meant to be all-encompassing. Oh that I would live to the glory of God in all things! O that I would do the hard work of figuring out what it means and how to live to the glory of God in my eating, sleeping, playing, working, reading, mowing the lawn, washing dishes, watching TV, preaching sermons, writing blogs, standing up and sitting down. Or as Piper puts it, "Drinking a glass of orange juice to the glory of God."
Here it is then. My life verse... 1 Cor. 10:31 "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
