What’s the Difference Between Thanksgiving, Praise and Worship? Part 4

Worship“Worship is giving all that you are to a God, who has already given everything!”

Worship is All That We Do and Say

 As we have been thinking more about the differences between thanksgiving, praise, and worship, I hope it’s become apparent that worship is not just a place or point in time, but it’s a part of our innermost being. Worship is in all that we do and say.

Living Sacrifices

In essence, it’s giving to God all that we are, all that we have been, and all that we want to be. We are to be living sacrifices. In Romans 12:1 (NIV) Paul says; “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

Worship is Not Just Singing a Few Hymns

As I stated at the very beginning of this series,  we cannot separate the secular from the spiritual. Every moment in time has been consecrated to God. This happened when you asked Jesus to be Lord of your life. A lifestyle of worship of Jesus is not just on a Sunday morning or reduced to singing a few songs or hymns.

It’s a Heart Response

“Worship is a heart’s response to the worthiness of the source.” For example, when we worship God, we do so in response to who He is (John 1:1-5). Our attitudes and actions reflect that we believe the character and nature of God to be worthy of our worship, praise, and adoration.

What Do Our Daily Lives Say?

At times in a collective setting, our worship can be expressed through corporate singing, teaching, and the giving of our finances. However, it is also expressed in our daily lives through prayer, the reading of Scripture, acts of kindness, gratitude, pure thoughts, and also throughout our normal work and home lives. In other words, if we do it unto Him and with Him in mind, then this is all a part of true worship.

He Loved Us First

Let me say this one thing: how we worship God based on who He is should change us from the inside out. Not the outside in! When we are fully yielded to His ways, we become more like Him. There’s no good thing that comes from being a Christian on Sunday morning who has it “all together” and then to go home and be ugly to your wife and kids, or even to the person who’s just cut you off in their car on the highway! See worship is a lifestyle based on our love for Him. Why? Because He perfectly loved us first (1 John 4:18-19).

Uncovering Worship in Spirit & Truth

Next week we start to unfold worshipping in spirit and truth, and since He is Spirit we must worship in spirit, or in accordance with the reality that He is Spirit. We must also worship God in accordance with His revelation, that is, carefully adhering to the directions of His Word. We worship God in complete dependence upon, and trust in, Jesus Himself; who is the truth in the flesh.

 

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