“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31 NIV)

EVERYTHING!

This verse makes it pretty simple and plain. Do EVERYTHING for the glory of God. “Whether you eat or drink or WHATEVER you do.

Serve to bring Him glory

“Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11 NASB)

Because He is worthy!

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." (Rev. 4:11 NASB)

Let your light shine

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 15:16 NASB)

With all your heart

“I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever.” (Psalm 86:3 NASB)

And bear much fruit

"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”  (John 15:8 NASB)

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3 NIV)

He wipes away their tears

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev. 21:4 NIV)

He is close to them

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18 NIV)

He is the strength of their heart

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26 NIV)

He blesses and comforts them

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matt. 5:4 NIV)

He comforts us so we can comfort others

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Cor. 1:3-4 ESV)

He walks with us

“Often we say that Christ will meet us on the other side. That is true, of course, but misleading. Let us never forget that He walks with us on this side of the curtain and then guides us through the opening. We will meet Him there, because we have met Him here.” – Erwin Lutzer

 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NIV)

The Spirit will help you speak boldly

“When they finished praying, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim God’s message with boldness. (Acts 4:31)

The Spirit will help you remember His Word

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26 ESV)

The Spirit will help you pray powerfully

“In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express.” (Romans 8:26)

“But you, my friends, keep on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Jude 1:20)

 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:37-38 ESV)

This passage is about things you get back when you do them to others: judging, condemning, forgiving, and giving. Notice that the list has both negative and positive things.

You reap the same thing

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” (Gal. 6:7 NASB)

“The wicked earns deceptive wages, But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.” (Prov. 11:17 NASB)

Therefore, do good to others!

“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (Gal. 6:9 NASB)

"Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” (Col. 4:5-6 NASB)

Outsiders cannot understand spiritual truth

“But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.” (1 Cor. 2:14 NLT)

We are children of God

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (2 John 3:1 ESV)

Control your behavior

“Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2:12 NASB)

"Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.” (Col. 1:18 NLT)

John the Baptist said it best

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30 ESV)

Seek God first to solve anxiety about things – He’s got you covered!

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:31-33 ESV)

Whatever you want God to bless, put Him first in that area!

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” (Prov. 16:3 ESV)

“As God is exalted to the right place in our lives, a thousand problems are solved all at once.” – A.W. Tozer

 “The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.” (Acts 28:2 NIV)

Be kind to others because God is kind to you

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:32 NASB)

Find others to show kindness to

“David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (3 Sam. 9:1 NIV)

And you will be rewarded by God’s kindness

“May the LORD now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this.” (2 Sam. 2:6 NIV)

You can never be too kind!

“In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with.” -  Brian Tracy

The problem with showing kindness

“One of the most difficult things to give away is kindness; it usually comes back to you.” - Anonymous

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (Luke 16:10 NIV)

Faithfulness leads to strength

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service.” (2 Tim. 1:12 NASB)

Be faithful and don’t waver because God is faithful to you

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Heb. 10:23 NASB)

Your work for the Lord is not in vain!

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58 NASB)

“For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (Heb. 4:12 NKJV)

Precious and very great promises

I spoke recently with a friend about God’s many promises scattered throughout the Bible. I told him God has put thousands of them there to meet every possible need he could have, physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. And, that all the promises are “yes” and paid for by Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 1:20). And that the Bible calls them “precious and very great promises” for us to be “partakers of”. (2 Pet. 1:4). He just shook his head and told me he didn’t believe all the promises in the Bible are for us today. I asked him which ones he thought aren’t for us today, and he had quite a list of them, including healing, miracles, and even God's personal provision for us. It was sad to listen to him say this because he could have benefited greatly from God’s wonderful promises! He was always going through some kind of personal problem that the promises of God clearly addresses and takes care of, yet he didn’t think they were for him!

If you don’t believe them, they WON’T work for you!

The promises of God are all faith activated! Hebrews 4:12 tells how two groups of people heard the same gospel preached to them (which is God’s promise of salvation), but, only one of the groups profited from hearing it! That’s because one group failed to mix faith with it when they heard it.

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord." (James 1:6-7 NIV)

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1 ESV)