Steps
Begin to honor God by fear and reverence: This includes fear of displeasing Him, Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him., from a psalmist of Israel (Psalm 33:8)
Realize that "glory, praise, renown, distinction" are words that are synonymous with "honor". Sing of His ways to honor God. May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great. (Psalms 138:5)
Honor God through "love", for example, at the judgment they shall ask: And when did we see you, that you were a stranger and we took you in, or that you were naked and we clothed you? And, when did we see you sick or in a prison, and we came to you? And The King answers and says to them, 'Amen, I say to you, as much as you have done to one of these my little brothers, you have done that to me.'
Worshiping God
Worship wherever you may be. You can dedicate a part or all of a room of your house as a place of prayer and worship. For example, you are not compelled to go to worship with others. Instead, you might often worship at home, alone or with others. Your worship might include candles, incense, and images or statues of spiritual importance to your faith, if any. Depending on which faith you are part of, you can substitute items of your faith at this place. Additionally, if you do not have a religion you can choose items of significance or meaning to you to place in your shrine. Worshiping at home can be a good practice for maintaining a healthy prayer life. You can use your worship space simply for daily prayer or meditation.
Meet at a place of worship. Invite others to share, and commune with the people in the traditions of your faith. Worshiping with others can enhance your feeling of awe. Awe is a sense of our smallness in the face of a great purpose, being or presence. People who experience more awe in creation may be more likely to help others and engage in working for the good of the group. Many places of worship have beautiful, awe inspiring art and teachings. They often contain and teach symbols of the faith, which represent a prominent doctrine. And, fellowship with the people at the meeting place.
Practice habits of prayer and meditation. Prayer and meditation can help you to regulate your negative emotions. Prayer can act like an invisible social support to help reinforce a positive self image. If you practice prayer, pray anywhere, at all times, or find a quiet place and time to talk to God about your concerns and the things in your life you are grateful for. Consider keeping a prayer journal. When you journal, it allows you to sort through the emotional pain in your life and orient yourself to the things that matter to you. Studies show that patients with life threatening diseases benefited physically and emotionally from regularly keeping journals about their stressful experiences. Practice prayer, meditation, and spiritual mindfulness regularly. These require that you still yourself and concentrate the mind to cease random thoughts and channel a connection with a larger presence.
Serving Others
Do small but helpful things for others voluntarily, not for attention or notice. You can honor God by performing good actions for others more casually in your everyday life. Additionally, helping others can help increase your overall appreciation, enjoyment, enlightenment and quality of life. Change up the small, nice things you do for others to keep it new for you. How can you put others needs even-with yours, and avoid pressing for minor desires and grievances to live a more humble life, outwardly and inwardly, for honoring others and God? Yield to a car to let them merge in traffic, and merge gradually, not haltingly Make food/a meal for a hungry person, not just for a friend or family member Smile, not proudly, as nicely holding the door open for someone Be a productive and thoughtful co-worker, not boastful Provide a needy person some clothing or other necessity
Volunteer with an organization or a group that helps people. Take time to make sure you find a good volunteer match for you. Look into volunteer work that lines up with your interests. You might try local places of worship or charity, or use the Yellow Pages under "Volunteer Center" or "Volunteer Clearinghouse", or you can look online at Volunteermatch.org or 1-800-volunteer.org to find opportunities in areas near you. Consider the following types of volunteering: Tutoring or volunteering at a school. Translating for immigrants, if you speak another language Coaching a team, if you play a sport Cleaning up and working at a local park or wildlife refuge Working at a local hospital, old folks home, or clinic Calling people for fundraisers from home
Do not over commit! Over committing to helping others is stressful and will hurt your ability to serve others well. You want to be able to do good things for others with a good attitude. Take some time to consider whether you have the time before committing to do something. If you have already committed, consider finishing out a portion of the work and then stepping up for another effort. Communicate openly about what is going on with you. People understand that others are busy and will respect you if you communicate with them honestly. Do not be afraid to go back to volunteering for the same organization once you have time to commit again. Pick back up with volunteering, if you had to take a break.
Ask someone to do volunteer work with you. Doing things with others often helps provide the motivation you will need to follow through with the work you want to do. In addition, it can help you bond as a friend in the work experience you will have and the new people that you might meet. Consider doing volunteer work with your family, spouse or significant other. This kind of work could help give your relationships healthy perspective and can help create a sense of purpose outside of yourselves.
Acting Humbly
Accept your opportunities and your limitations. Be proactive about who you can be and are. The less you have to prove yourself to others, the more you can honor God. When you experience conflict with others, own your responsibilities. Knowing your faults and accepting them will also allow you to learn from your mistakes and grow. This kind of behavior helps build strong social bonds For example, if your friend is angry at you for being late, do not become defensive. Tell them, "I apologize, I want to become more mindful of my time." Seeing and owning your problems can make them seem less fearful and more possible to overcome. This positive attitude can help you make positive changes in your habits.
Forgive and give grace beyond what people deserve, that you want them or God to give to you. Accept and do not dwell on your or another's mistake, but concentrate on specific things you can do to give God's saving grace and be improving lives in concrete ways, as much as you have opportunity.
Think about yourself less often. Armor yourself with kindness, rightness, humility, grace and peace, not tricking or cheating but loving others advancement and their good marks. Worrying about oneself less, makes one better able to be more connected with others. Putting off the self for the others benefit and not demanding perfection from yourself, either, honors God's through serving his creation.
Show that your are grateful. Gratitude creates a sense that you have benefited from other people and from things they do and say. When you become more aware of your own dependence on the people. Thank people and accept their importance and share all the hope, peace and other resources that you have, the more you will be able to realize that it is not all about you. Keep a gratitude journal; this practice can improve your psychological well being. Write down at least three things that you are thankful for. And do your gratitude writing on the daily.
Encourage others to share and do your part to avoid self-centering but to be open to growth and sharing empowerment, not by unnecessary coercion, demands or controlling others. When you are free from being center of attention, you can work to empower others, denying yourself some prerogatives/perks. Strengthening others creates a stronger community better able to work toward a common good. You can become a powerful leader when you know how to effectively build up others sense of achievement. Some of the most impactful people who have lived have been spiritual leaders, for example Buddha, Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King and Muhammad.
Avoid acting entitled such as expecting to be rewarded, thanked or complimented for good activities. Acting entitled means that one indicates he or she should get certain things for doing well. Feeling as if deserving of things but not getting them, one will end up being resentful or bitter. It is difficult to have a good attitude and love others while bitter, because of being stuck thinking about things one doesn't have. If you don't feel like you are owed things, then you can work more freely for others without expecting things in return.
Practice service, helping the weak, and don't seek or care about impressiveness or unrealistic, "upward mobility" or deceitful riches for what would profit a person, if he gains the World but losses his soul? Do not worry about your failures but make them temporary and continue your achievements immediately. Instead of grooming and sharing irritations, aim at working well and worrying less about yourself. So, concentrate more on the bigger-picture and assisting one another, through service -- and worship God by service to the common or poor people.
Assume that you do not have all of the answers. Often people who are humble are more tolerant of others. Humble people do not need to be aggressive or defensive about their beliefs. Being patient and listening to other beliefs and ideas, even when you experience hardships can honor God by peace and kindness. This will allow you to grow stronger and learn more about God and yourself.
Let peace and good things happen that you may not understand or are out of your control. Get out of the way of the work of God by working for voluntary community including through individual efforts and in groups such as at places of worship.
Expect, and appreciate other's knowledge in the faith differing, greater or lesser, from your experience, achievement, expertise or study. Honor God by rewarding good faith and goodwill by graciousness and sincere condolences in grief and congratulations in good times. Honor God by giving credit to other people, by accepting who and what they are and can offer, enjoying time spent with others in fellowship.
Comments
0 comment