As a part of our daily discipleship, I think it’s helpful for us to continually think about how theory meets reality. If an idea is theologically important, I start to wonder about the influence it is supposed to have on my life as I walk out of the church and into the wider world.

Speaking of ideas, here is a biggie: glorifying God. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul reminds his readers: “whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” This is closely related to honouring God. The author of Psalm 115 consciously directs attention away from himself and toward his Maker: “Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory…”

So how does that big idea take shape in our day to day lives? Well, we certainly worship God. We give him credit. We also seek to live in a way which is consistent with his Scriptures. 

But here’s something else. It has to do with what is happening inside of us. When I say or do things, am I doing them to receive praise or acknowledgement, or am I saying and doing them for the glory of God? In Blind Spots, Collin Hansen puts it succinctly: “The church must follow Christ’s command to love our neighbors whether or not we ever receive thank you notes.”*

Yes, it’s nice to be thanked and acknowledged. It’s also good for us express our thanks to others. But when we work hard, go the extra mile, and go above and beyond, and don’t receive a word of thanks—whether through a phone call, email, face-to-face conversation, card or text—and if that really upsets us, God might be teaching us something: that perhaps our motives aren’t as pure as we think.

Do it all “for the glory of God,” Paul says. The extra shift at work, the planning for loved ones, the unseen volunteer hours, the bill you quietly paid, the ____________. 

Gratitude is wonderful—both given and received. But its absence may be an opportunity to re-direct your eyes back to the one you’re doing it all for in the first place.

Let’s be the hands and feet of Jesus, regardless of whether or not we receive thank you notes.

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Notes:

–*Collin Hansen, Blind Spots (Crossway: Wheaton, 2015), 45.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.