A Greater End

Twelve-twenty a.m. is probably way too late to be starting a blog, but I can't seem to get this topic off my mind and have been aching to write about it for a couple months now. (Thank you faithful blog readers for your patience by the way.) So give me grace as I work through this topic in an exhausted yet caffeinated state of mind.

I love being a wife and a mother. Investing in a family is what I have always wanted to do with my life. I consider it my primary ministry to serve these two wonderful human beings. I am constantly researching ways I can improve in these roles, whether it be learning how to help my teething daughter or how to create a more welcoming atmosphere for my husband to come home to. This is my job and I love it!

But to what end am I seeking excellence in these roles? Is it because that's what I'm supposed to do? Or because Scripture calls me to consider others as better than myself? I know that God values my roles as wife and mother, so maybe that is why I am supposed to strive to be good at them. Maybe it's simply because I love my husband and daughter and serving them is a natural response.

Though all those things are good reasons, there is still a greater end than this. It is simply and decidedly the GLORY OF GOD. The end goal of excellence as a wife and a mom should be THE GLORY OF GOD. I know this sounds like your classic Sunday school answer, but don't check out. What does it really mean to do something for the glory of God? The Word glory literally means "heavy" or "weighty" in the Hebrew. To bring God glory means to give weight to Him, in a positive sense.

If something is weighty, you don't take it lightly. Rather, you have to seriously consider it and deal with it. In the same way, by bringing God glory, I give weight to Him and cause others to take Him more seriously and to have a more positive view of Him than they did before. This is bringing glory to God. And this is the reason I should seek to be excellent in my roles as a wife and a mother.

1 Corinthians 10:31 echoes this: "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." It is an interesting concept to think about serving Jimmy and Lively for a greater reason than simply because I love them. But they themselves should not be the ultimate end of my service to them. God is the reason I should seek to serve them with such fervor. The reason I seek to be excellent in these roles is ultimately so my God will be looked upon by this world in a more serious and more positive light. Now that is exciting motivation!

With all my heart I long for others to know the abundant joy it is to know my God through His Son, Jesus! The joy of my life and the heartbeat behind all I do is Jesus! What I wouldn't give for more people to be enthralled with Him and simply knowing Him! So to be reminded that this is the very reason I am to strive to be excellent as a wife and mom is the greatest motivation.

This is also true of all the commands in the Word of God. Why consider others as greater than yourself? Why honor your mom and dad? Why strive for a life of purity? Why be excellent at your job or in your schoolwork? Not just because "God says so," or "because it's the right thing to do," but because it is so counter-cultural that other people are forced to take God seriously when we do these things consistently. It makes Him look good and gives Him more weight. And in a culture that laughs and jokes about Jesus and Christians, the more weight we can bring to God the better.

I pray that this brings renewed motivation to do what we are called to do with excellence. The reputation of our God is at stake! We are to bring Him glory! To make Him weighty and cause others to take Him seriously. Whether you work, drive, do homework, wash dishes, change diapers, cook dinner, mow the lawn, go shopping, exercise, go to class, live with roommates, eat, drink, or whatever you do, do it all in a way that makes our God look good! Do it all for the glory of God!