God's Glory || Is God....Full of Himself???

 I recently heard a talk by Louie Giglio in which he spoke of God's role in history and His glory. There were a few surprising comments that Louie made, not the least of which was this: That God is actually full of Himself.

 But that's selfish, isn't it? Wouldn't that make God arrogant and proud? It simply can't be true...

Okay...before we get on too much of a rampage about how contradictory that statement sounds, I'll do my best to explain what Giglio explained so well. God isn't arrogant, and He isn't proud (just look at 1 Corinthians 13. He is love, after all) And just look what He did at the cross. Nope, selfishness must be ruled out, too.

But God IS full of Himself, and everything He does, He does motivated by His glory. (He is also a good God, so everything He does, He does for our good, as well as for His glory. Isn't that wonderful? I can't help but be grateful...what if He were a tyrant? But no, He loves us.)

Look through the Bible. The stars proclaim His glory, the trees whisper and shout His praise, and all creation testifies to His glory. What did David say in Psalm 23? "He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake."

How about when God brought Israel out of Egypt? Oh, that's because He saw Israel's hardship and wanted to alleviate their sufferings, right? In part, but look at God's words to Pharaoh in Exodus 9:16.

"But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."

Well that's a different spin on things, isn't it? And that's just a couple of examples, but God's Word is replete with mentions of God's work and that His motivation is for His Name to be spread through all the earth and His glory to be made known. Even Jesus, though His soul was troubled--knowing He would be crucified--prayed, "Father, glorify your name." (John 12:27-28)

But what's all this being full of Himself? Isaiah 42:8 says, "I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols."

God is the greatest--ever--and He knows it. He knows His name is God (Louie Giglio says that if He didn't know His own name, He wouldn't be God, because in order to be God you have to know everything, and if He didn't know His own name, He couldn't be God...) Anyway, God wants our best (since He is motivated by our good), and He knows the best is Himself. That's what He gave us on the cross--Himself--and why He won't allow us to serve idols (whatever form they take). That's why He wants the world to know about Him and glorify Him, because He is the best.

(and hey, how would you feel if you were God, knew it, and knew that you were the best for planet earth and all its inhabitants?)

Andy Stanley pointed out that God obeys all His commands, including the one where He said to love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. God loves Himself with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength.

*mind blown*

And even if you don't agree with this (please don't just take my word for it...study it for yourself!) we can all agree that we serve an AWESOME God. How mighty He is!

There's my attempt at explaining something I've been learning about. Any thoughts? I'd love to hear them, so feel free to drop a comment...even if you don't agree with this totally. ;)

Blessings & Love,
Georgie Grace