Did you know that everyone was created to worship?
Yes, even those who would not consider themselves religious worship something or someone.
Worship is ascribing worth to something or someone.
It is what you devote your time, your devotion, your affection, your finances, your heart to. If you allow yourself to really reflect on this, you will know in your heart where all of those things in your life are going to.
As humans, we were created to worship God, but once sin came into the world, we started to worship anything but God. This tension, to worship God vs anything/anyone else, exists in the heart of every single man, woman, and child.
If you worship anyone or anything besides God Almighty, the Bible calls those people or those things idols. And when it comes to God, He doesn’t want you to give yourself away fully to anything or anyone but Him. He’s not egotistical or prideful, He just loves us so much and wants us to see the world and people like He does.
Worshiping God creates an atmosphere in our hearts that is conducive to see God mold us more and more into the image of Jesus Christ, His Son. We are fixing our attention and affections on giving God the upmost glory in and through our lives. Seeking God first and foremost in our life, means our hearts begin to long for the things of God versus the things of this world more and more each day that we walk with God.
The more we worship God by giving Him first place in our lives, our heart then becomes a breeding ground for selfless love to be produced in us and through us.
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When the Lord begins to sanctify us and mold us and change our hearts, we are then able to love others with the Father’s love.
In Matthew 22, Jesus responds to a group of Pharisees and Sadducees when he is asked what was the greatest commandment in the law:
“And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’38 This is the great and [o]foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets’”
Matthew 22:37-40, NASB
In prayer one day, as I was pondering this, I began singing this simple chorus:
Cultivate the ground of my heart
Til it yields a harvest of lasting fruit
For Your purpose
For Your plan…
How does God cultivate the ground of your heart?
Through worship- seeking God Almighty first and foremost and surrendering your life completely to Him more and more every day.
Worship is not just singing to the Lord (although that’s important). It is denying yourself and saying “yes” to Him every single day of your life. From seeking Him in prayer or by sharing the gospel with those God places in your path or by praying for those who are hurting, every “yes” to God is worship. When we love God with all that we are, our hearts can’t help but overflow with His love for others.
Worship is a lifestyle.
It is constantly telling God “More of You and less of me” every day. Every time we obey God and say “yes” to Him, we give Him glory. We give Him worth with our words and our actions. Every father wants to see their children mature and succeed their love walk, and our Heavenly Father wants the same for us.
Take some time to reflect upon what is getting all of your attention, affections, and time. Who or what do you worship? Yourself? Your plans? Your job? Money? Nice clothes? Everything in this world will pass away, except for love (1 Corinthians 13). Are there areas in your life that you are holding back from God?
The more we say “yes” to God, the more He molds our hearts and they will overflow with His perfect Love.