Someone said something in our Bible study group recently. “We are not the main characters; if anything, we are just extras.” For a moment, that stung a little. Then I quickly realized that was the human in me. We as humans all desire to be the main character, to be chosen, to be glorified in some way. Even those who don’t have any desire to be well known or live in the spotlight still innately desire to be special. The truth is, we are all special, but we are not the main character; Jesus is.

Realizing you are not the main character in anyone’s story is actually a blessing in disguise. It takes the pressure off of you when you realize no one cares; no one is thinking about you, and if they are, it’s fleeting because they are thinking way more about their own self, their own life. It’s freeing, and it makes it easy to do whatever it is you want to do without reservation.

At the end of the day, all that matters is the main character. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of you; it really doesn’t even matter what you think of you. All that truly matters is what God thinks of you.

We were created for God’s glory. That’s the very meaning of life. A lot of people struggle with this concept. “If God created me for His own glory, then He must be using me.” some people have claimed. God knows what’s best for us. He knows that living for Him is the ultimate way for us to have true peace and everlasting joy. When we look at Jesus’s life, we can see that He had peace, joy, love and all the fruits of the spirit because He lived for God’s glory.

Glorifying God is about being liberated from the bondage of self. This is how we were designed before sin entered the world, before man began to desire what God has. When we live to glorify God, we can know joy; we can know peace; and we can experience the gift of selfless love.