Using Our Bodies to Glorify God in Daily Life
The concept of glorifying God with one's body in daily life is rooted in the biblical call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1 urges believers to present their bodies as "living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" [1]. This instruction implies that the physical self, far from being separate from spiritual devotion, is an integral part of worship and service to God.
Glorifying God encompasses various aspects of life, including praise, obedience, and the proper use of one's physical being. God is worthy of praise due to His majesty, glory, excellency, greatness, holiness, wisdom, power, goodness, and mercy [5]. This praise can be offered through both internal and external acts. For instance, lifting hands and hearts to God in heaven is an ancient expression of worship [3]. Historically, acts of adoration involved physical postures such as rising and prostrating the body, falling on the knee, and inclining the body until the forehead touched the ground, as seen in the worship of Jehovah and in receiving visitors [4].
The body is not merely an instrument but is claimed by Christ, and ultimately by God [14]. This understanding informs how believers are to live. The Apostle Paul, in Romans 7:25, acknowledges the tension between serving God's law with the mind and the law of sin with the flesh [2]. While all human beings are born with a sinful nature, the godly are called to fight against it [9]. Sinful acts, described as "vanity," are a dishonor to God and an ingratitude to the benefactor [10, 11]. Deliberate sins are characterized by an insolent or arrogant attitude and constitute rebellion against God [12]. To claim one has no sin, even after conversion, is to make God a liar [13]. Therefore, glorifying God involves actively resisting sin and striving for holiness.
Glorifying God is a command [6]. It is accomplished by relying on His promises, praising Him, and performing all actions in a manner that honors Him [6]. This includes using the body in ways that reflect God's character and purpose. For example, anointing with oil was used for decorating, refreshing, purifying, and even healing the body, demonstrating a care for the physical self that could be seen as honoring God's creation [7]. Prayer, defined as direct address to God, involves the intercourse of the soul with God and can be expressed through physical postures like bowing the knees [8]. John Gill notes that worship, including bowing down, is due to Christ as the proper object of religious adoration [16].
The unity of believers in glorifying God is also emphasized. Romans 15:5 suggests that a cordial affection among believers is necessary for worshipping God with one consent, both in prayer and praise, so that they may "glorify God, even the Father" with "one mind and one mouth" [15]. This communal aspect highlights that the body, in its individual and collective expressions, contributes to God's glory.
Sources
- Romans “Romans 12:1 (BSB) — Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
- Romans “I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law. -- Romans 7:25”
- Lamentations “Lamentations 3:41 (Geneva1599) — Let vs lift vp our hearts with our handes vnto God in the heauens.”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Adoration — The acts and postures by which the Hebrews expressed adoration bear a great similarity to those still in use among Oriental nations. To rise up and suddenly prostrate the body was the most simple method; but, generally speaking, the prostration was conducted in a more formal manner, the person falling upon the knee and then gradually inclining the body until the forehead touched the ground. Such prostration was usual in the worship of Jehovah, (Genesis 17:3; Psalms 95:6) it was the formal mode of receiving visitors, (Genesis 18:2) of doing obeisance to one”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Praise — God is worthy of -- 2Sa 22:4. Christ is worthy of -- Re 5:12. God is glorified by -- Ps 22:23; 50:23. Offered to Christ -- Joh 12:13. Acceptable through Christ -- Heb 13:15. Is due to God on account of His majesty. -- Ps 96:1,6; Isa 24:14. His glory. -- Ps 138:5; Eze 3:12. His excellency. -- Ex 15:7; Ps 148:13. His greatness. -- 1Ch 16:25; Ps 145:3. His holiness. -- Ex 15:11; Isa 6:3. His wisdom. -- Da 2:20; Jude 1:25. His power. -- Ps 21:13. His goodness. -- Ps 107:8; 118:1; 136:1; Jer 33:11. His mercy. -- 2Ch 20:21; Ps 89:1; 118:1-4; 136:1-26. His loving-k”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Glorifying God — Commanded -- 1Ch 16:28; Ps 22:23; Isa 42:12. Due to him -- 1Ch 16:29. For his Holiness. -- Ps 99:9; Re 15:4. Mercy and truth. -- Ps 115:1; Ro 15:9. Faithfulness and truth. -- Isa 25:1. Wondrous works. -- Mt 15:31; Ac 4:21. Judgments. -- Isa 25:3; Eze 28:22; Re 14:7. Deliverance. -- Ps 50:15. Grace to others. -- Ac 11:18; 2Co 9:13; Ga 1:24. Obligation of saints to -- 1Co 6:20. Is acceptable through Christ -- Php 1:11; 1Pe 4:11. Christ, an example of -- Joh 17:4. Accomplished by Relying on his promises. -- Ro 4:20. Praising him. -- Ps 50:23. Doing all ”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Anointing — With oil -- Ps 92:10. With ointment -- Joh 11:2. Was used for Decorating the person. -- Ru 3:3. Refreshing the body. -- 2Ch 28:15. Purifying the body. -- Es 2:12; Isa 57:9. Curing the sick. -- Mr 6:13; Jas 5:14. Healing wounds. -- Isa 1:6; Lu 10:34. Preparing weapons for war. -- Isa 21:5. Preparing the dead for burial. -- Mt 26:12; Mr 16:1; Lu 23:56. The Jews were very fond of. -- Pr 27:9; Am 6:6. Was applied to The head. -- Ps 23:5; Ec 9:8. The face. -- Ps 104:15. The feet. -- Lu 7:38,39; Joh 12:3. The eyes. -- Re 3:18. Ointment for Richly perfumed. -- S”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or formal. It is a "beseeching the Lord" (Ex. 32:11); "pouring out the soul before the Lord" (1 Sam. 1:15); "praying and crying to heaven" (2 Chr. 32:20); "seeking unto God and making supplication" (Job 8:5); "drawing near to God" (Ps. 73:28); "bowing the knees" (Eph. 3:14). Prayer presupposes a belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold inter”
- Psalms (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Psalms 58:3: 58:3 All human beings are born sinners (see 51:5); however, whereas the wicked indulge their sinful nature, the godly fight against it (Rom 7:19-23; Jas 4:1-10).”
- Proverbs (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Proverbs 30:8: vanity--all sorts of sinful acts (Job 11:11; Isa 5:18).”
- Genesis (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Genesis 3:13: beguiled--cajoled by flattering lies. This sin of the first pair was heinous and aggravated--it was not simply eating an apple, but a love of self, dishonor to God, ingratitude to a benefactor, disobedience to the best of Masters--a preference of the creature to the Creator.”
- Psalms (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Psalms 19:13: 19:13 An individual who commits deliberate sins does so with an insolent (86:14) or arrogant (119:21, 69) attitude. • The great sin is rebellion (see 32:1).”
- 1 John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 John 1:10: Parallel to Jo1 1:8. we have not sinned--referring to the commission of actual sins, even after regeneration and conversion; whereas in Jo1 1:8, "we have no sin," refers to the present GUILT remaining (until cleansed) from the actual sins committed, and to the SIN of our corrupt old nature still adhering to us. The perfect "have . . . sinned" brings down the commission of sins to the present time, not merely sins committed before, but since, conversion. we make him a liar--a gradation; Jo1 1:6, "we lie"; Jo1 1:8, "we deceive ourselves"; worst of al”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 3:23: 3:23 Just as they may now claim everything as their own, so Christ has claimed them for himself (see Rom 14:7-9), and in Christ they are ultimately claimed by God (see 1 Cor 6:19-20; 7:23).”
- Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 15:5: That ye may with one mind and one mouth;.... This is the end for which the above request is made, and shows, that a cordial and sincere affection for one another is necessary to the worshipping of God with one consent, to a joining together in acts of religious service, both in praying to God, and in praising of him, which latter seems here chiefly designed; for how should there be an agreement of heart and voice, of mind and mouth, in praising God, unless there is a singleness of heart, and oneness of affection? This is necessary in order to glorify God, even the F”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 95:6: O come, let us worship and bow down,.... Before him who is the Rock of our salvation, the great God and great King, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the proper object of all religious worship and adoration: Christ is to be worshipped with every part of external worship under the New Testament dispensation; psalms and songs of praise are to be sung unto him; prayer is to be made unto him; the Gospel is to be preached, and ordinances to be administered, in his name; and likewise with all internal worship, in the exercise of every grace on him, as faith, hope, and l”