Do you worship god for yourself, or do you worship god for god? In other words, do you go to church to worship god for gods sake, or do you do it to feel better about yourself? Basically what I am trying to figure out is whether belief in a diety is a selfish endeavor or if it is benevolent. i.e. Trying to make god feel better about himself by bowing down to him.
YDoncha_Blowme
Favorite Answer
amsley - weed DEEPENS my thought....
there is no such thing as an unselfish act. Anyone who says differently is simply fooling themselves. The only reason people worship Gods is because they are raised to believe that this is the only way towards their salvation....note: THEIR salvation. It has nothing to do with making God feel good about himself - its all about saving their souls.
Dont beleive me? Just ask them why you should bother beleiveing in God, and most respond "Well, do you want to find out you were wrong when youre dead and facing him?"
BaseballGrrl
I think you're wrong in your perception. It's neither. We worship because it is an act of warfare against the Prince of this World. God gave us worship as a way of defeating Satan. Worship is the fuel for the spiritual war.
On another angle - why do people at a football game throw their hands up and cheer?? Is that selfish or benevolant as you describe it?? we humans just choose to worship that which we love and get excited about. Football or God? What is it that you love? That is simple and plain to see.
s2scrm
Neither. The premise of your question is errant. Not everything is based on the derivation of pleasure or any other emotion.
There are immutable laws whether you regard them or not. The man who jumps off a tall building cannot mock or defy the law of gravity (at least not for very long).
The earth is the Lord's, he owns it. We are His creation, he created us. All descended from the first man Adam, who disobeyed God and reversed the order ordained by God. God made provision for "whosoever believes in Him".
We (Christians) understand the order God ordained, and the law of consequences for remaining in disobedience, and we have reconciled with our creator, and we now honor His Word, His Law and His Will in our lives.
You wouldn't tell your boss at work that you don't like the way he told you to do things, that you're gonna do it the way you want. The law of consequences comes into play and you may find yourself in the unemployment office.
God created the universe and He sets the rules. So we have two choices:
(1) Follow the rules and reap the rewards, or
(2) Break the rules and reap the consequences.
sister steph
A little bit of both, honestly. I worship God because I love Him and do so for God's sake, but it makes me feel good when I go to church, so I also do so for my own sake.
G W
I worship for God's pleasure, not to make Him feel better about Himself.