So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1, ESV
In living our lives, we, as followers of Christ, are called to be imitators of Christ and to do all things to His glory. We don’t do things just to appear good before other people. Prayer is not meant to be a show for others to watch, nor are we meant to give to receive laudatory praise. We are to do everything, even our eating, to the glory of God. That means that when we do things in our lives, it is meant to bring praise to God. This is unlike the ways of the world in which we are meant to do things in order to excel and move up in order to be praised by others. It is easy for those who profess faith in Christ to forget this in life because the outpouring of praise from others is like a drug. How many have fallen when they have achieved greatness in the eyes of the world? We are called to be imitators of Christ as we live because, in our Lord, we find humility. He had crowds following Him before His crucifixion, but there were those in the crowd who had followed our Lord Jesus and were crying, “Crucify Him!” near the end. Praise can be fickle, but God’s word is steadfast. We are reminded of this not only as we read the Bible but as we read the ways of the world. We don’t need to hide the things we do, but we are meant not to seek praise but to do things for the benefit of our neighbor. In doing so, we can shine a light on the purpose of our hope and the reason for our calling to serve. It may not remove the light from us, but then we are to shine the light further onto Christ in how we live. For those that don’t know Christ, we may be the image of Christ that will bring them to know Him and come into His glory.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.