How do I honor God in all things?

Dear Christina,

The other day I saw a Bible verse that said honor God in all things that I do. How do I even do that? What does that look like?

-Anonymous

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Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for writing in and asking such a simple yet profound question. Interestingly, I believe that the answer to healing the world and the heart and mind of every human lies in the answer to this question. I hope I can do your question justice in this free coaching response.

In the video below I give my perspective on the meaning of what honoring God in all things looks like in day-to-day life and some gratitude strategies I use to ensure that I stay in a place of honoring God in all things (when we focus on being grateful for everyone and everything, we draw more things to be grateful for into our lives and we appreciate all that already surrounds us so much more).

Throughout my personal journey of healing, and the journey of helping others to grow and heal, I’ve learned that when one learns how to live aligned with honoring God in all things, we also begin to live a life full of happiness, wonder, excitement and peace; we live a life of love and joy and harmony. We live heaven on earth; we live aligned in thought and in deed. And it doesn’t matter who or what is going on around us or what kind of negativity, dysfunction, or chaos is trying to stop/block us.

Because to honor God in all things means we lose all the aspects of our personalities, patterns, and programming that create misery, such as judging ourselves and others. We lose blame. We lose shame. We lose self-hate. We lose all the patterns and programming that cause us to live outside of the values of love, Truth, mercy, tolerance, compassion, and grace. We lose our addictions. We lose our escapes. We lose our ability to hate others. We lose our ability to separate ourselves from the very love we crave. We lose our lack of faith and our fears stop impacting our present happiness. We lose our need to control others, be better than others, and dominate.

Because to truly honor God in all things means we are also honoring ourselves and one another (which a person can learn to do even if they don’t believe in God). And when we can honor ourselves and one another — and show up for the values we say we believe in — we develop self-love, self-worth, self-confidence, self-respect, self-affinity, and an unbreakable, unshakeable knowing of who we are and what we’re meant to do in this life. We develop an understanding of who we truly are and have always been, despite any pain that covered up our truth. And, honestly, I don’t care who you are or what you believe — you, like all other humans, are born to love. It is what each person craves at the core of their being — to love and to be loved. The challenge is that each person goes through life accumulating various layers of pain — pain that hides the love, but at the core of every human being is love.

Honoring God in all things starts with understanding that God made us in love and that it is love that’s at the core of who we truly are; I see love in everyone I meet. Everyone. Even the people who do things that are incredibly unloving. I know that the expression of anything that is not love is just pain or a misunderstanding of pain. Seeing love in all people brings me such amazing amounts of peace and it allows me to honor God in all people/places/things. It also means that I get to keep my self-worth because I’m staying consistent with the compassionate, kind, loving person I claim to be.

So, as you watch the free coaching video I recorded for you, consider if you show up in ways that are not aligned with what you say you value, or in ways that are not honoring to yourself, others, and/or God. For example, do you judge others, or shame them? Do you blame others for the way your life is turning out? Do you find yourself stuck in patterns that are not honoring to yourself, such as overeating, using drugs, over-drinking alcohol? Are you kind and loving even to those who may not be kind and loving in return? Do you have compassion for all people, even those who do things that make having compassion for them hard?

Truth is, we are all on the same journey; we are all journeying toward the light. All. Of. Us. The only difference is that each person is starting from a different place, with some people having a long way to go while others are closer. When I learned this fact, it made it easier to have patience (and love) for those who seem so hateful, lost, fearful, or full of judgment, violence, pain. They have a longer way to go than I, and I can have patience and compassion for that — and by doing so, perhaps I can even show them the way. (If you struggle with having compassion for the people who do things that make them hard to love, this post may be helpful to you.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video.  It’s below. Thanks for writing in and giving me a reason to share love with you and all. I appreciate it and you. :)

With love, gratitude, grit, and grace,