Worship is not about you.

“I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God—I mean, that’s one way to look at it — we’re doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy.

“So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?”

The comments above were made recently by Victoria Osteen, Joel Osteen's wife, as the two of them addressed the congregation of their mega-church in Houston. The sad thing is comments like these, and the Osteens aren't the only ones who make them, mislead people in their walk with God. Worshiping God so you'll be happy is nothing short of worshiping the idol of happiness.

Sorry to put it so bluntly but...Worship is not about you. Regardless of what you personally think or regardless of what a prosperity preacher may tell you, worship is not about you. It's not about making you happy. It's not about making you feel good. It's not about the type of music you prefer. It's not about what you get out of it. Our worship of God is about us recognizing His holiness in comparison to our sinfulness. It's about showing our love and devotion to Him for what He has done by providing us with salvation through Christ. Our worship of God should look to glorify Him (Psalm 29:2), not give us a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Don't misunderstand me to be saying that we shouldn't have our preferences of ways to worship God. Variety is the spice of life and worship. I'm also not saying that worship should be dull and boring, full of routine for routine's sake. Psalm 100:2 says "Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs" (NIV). Worship is to be a celebration of what God has done in our lives through the salvation He's provided to us. But when we start to worship God because of what we get out of it, then we start to tread on spiritual thin ice.

Psalm 99:5 wraps up the idea of worship for us. It says "Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy" (NIV). We are to exalt or lift up God in our worship. We are to humble ourselves before Him as if bowing at His footstool. And finally, we do all of this because He is holy...not to make us happy.

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