Glory

 

     Glory isn't always fun. It often hurts, can be difficult to achieve, and the process of achieving it can be quite brutal at times. The thing that defines glory the most is victory over adversity. Without the challenge, the victory wouldn't be as rewarding, and the glory would be minimal at best.

     There is a substantial difference between earthly glory and heavenly glory. Earthly glory is fleeting. It may last a couple hours, days, maybe months, sometimes years, but eventually earthly glory dies. The victories humans achieve fade in their emotional and mental power and the glory is forgotten and starts fading away as time goes on and those who experienced the glory grow older and start to pass out of the world. 

   No matter how that winning touchdown to clinch a come from behind victory, getting the girl of your dreams, or winning a war against a wicked and murderous enemy, glory in this world will always fade away and lose its luster.

    Heavenly glory never fades. It is truly eternal and not bound by entropy, decay, and the hand of time. Heavenly glory belongs to God and God alone, and whoever He decides to share it with. Just like the sharing of grace, God can share glory with whoever He pleases, and the glory of God is undying.

   As someone who is attempting to serve Jesus better and better as time goes on, one thing I hope to do is glorify God through my actions and let God work through the unfortunate circumstances of my life and my failures, corruption, and sin so that He may be glorified in my healing and redemption.

       That does not happen by my own strength. That only happens by God's power. I believe God's glory is demonstrated to a far greater degree by healing, grace, and mercy than by any victory in battle or contest could ever bring. God is also glorified through acts of love and compassion.

        If you show mercy to a transgressor, God is glorified. If you show compassion to a stranger and a downtrodden person, God is glorified. Bringing people to the love and glory of Jesus Christ and His salvation is most effectively done through acts of compassion, mercy, and love. 

     God's glory is eternal, but his glory on earth is greatly shown through aiding his followers and children through adversity and trials and the redemption and repentence of sinners and criminals humanity and the world condemns and forsakes far quicker and harsher than God does. God is glorified through this because it proves the worldly people and unforgiving and unmerciful societies wrong in their condemnation and abandonment of that sinner or criminal. 

God can redeem whoever He pleases. God can extend grace to whoever He pleases. God can be merciful to whoever He pleases. God can save whoever He pleases. When He proves the world wrong and saves someone the world condemned or even professing followers of Jesus condemns and do not forgive, God is very much glorified.

Glory that is meaningful, lasting, substantial, and of the highest quality and degree can only come from God. All other forms of glory on earth fall spectacularly short of God's glory.