This week I wrote down for myself a series of propositions regarding the glory of God. I must say that for what may be about 25 years I’ve sought to grasp what God's glory is over against what strikes me as a longstanding, common notion of his glory that I have found unworthy. What I mean by that is this, and I say the following with reverence, but many preachers and theologians seem to imply that when God does things for his glory his motivation is to make sure that we pay attention to him or else. In other words, his glory is about his getting satisfactory attention from us and when he does not receive it there is, in even a literal sense, hell to pay.

Serious bible teachers rarely put it that bluntly, but many a popular book or commentary I’ve read seem to peddle that assumption. And who dares question God demanding what he will from us for any reason at all? And so the notion gains traction even though it hardly sounds like anything Jesus is about.

I hope to write a lot more on this topic, God willing, supplying the biblical underpinnings to my propositions but for the time being I offer you the following for your reflection.

• The glory of God is his incommensurable goodness, which is to say, it is so great that there is no way to measure it or compare it to anything.
• His goodness is most clearly manifested in his self-sacrificial love.
• His motive for self-sacrifice was to restore each of us to friendship with himself.
• Therefore, to “glorify” him is to live each day seeing to it that God enjoys from us what he gave his life for — our friendship.
• Hence, God is most glorified in us when we grow in walking with him in heart-to-heart friendship.
• We know our friendship with him is real and growing the more our motives and actions embody his goodness — that is — reveal God’s glory.
• And for us too, God’s goodness is most revealed in us and through us by God-guided, self-sacrificial love.