1 Corinthians 10:31 - A Maxim for Living!

1 Cor 10:31 (KJV)  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Cor 10:31 (CEV)  When you eat or drink or do anything else,
always do it to honor God.

The phrase "the glory of God" is equivalent to the honor of God;
(Barnes' Notes)

Here is a principle that is to underlie every motive, thought,
and act. GW127,8

God's love must so permeate our motives that all we do will be
for his glory. Keep this as a guiding principle by asking, "Is this
action glorifying God?" or "How can I honor God through this action?"
[Life Application SB]

Paul sets forth a rule that is simple, easily understood, yet
comprehensive, profound, and far reaching. Consciously and with unwavering
determination the Christian must do everything, even the routine items of
daily life, in such a way that God, not man, is honored. Such a course
calls for constant dedication of all the powers of mind and body to
Him, and daily surrender of all one's being to His Spirit. [SDA
Commentary]

Christians are not at liberty to follow the promptings of the
natural, unconverted heart and the impulses of the unregenerate body.
They are under obligation to bring every thought, word, and deed into
harmony with God's revealed will. [SDA Commentary]

We should devote the strength which we derive from the bounties
of His hand to His honor and in His service. He gives us food; He
makes it nourishing; He invigorates our frame; and that strength
should not be devoted to purposes of sin, and profligacy, and
corruption. it is an act of high dishonor to God, when HE gives us strength,
that WE should at once devote that strength to pollution and to sin.
(Barnes' Notes)

If you draw close to Jesus, and seek to adorn your profession by
a well-ordered life and godly conversation, your feet will be kept
from straying into forbidden paths. If you will only watch,
continually watch unto prayer, if you will do everything as if you were in
the immediate presence of God, you will be saved from yielding to
temptation, and may hope to be kept pure, spotless, and undefiled till the
last. If you hold the beginning of your confidence firm unto the end,
your ways will be established in God, and what grace has begun, glory
will crown in the kingdom of our God. GW127,8

If you are a publisher or a pastor, a ditch-digger or a pilot, a
fisherman or a fruit grower, a garage mechanic or a furniture maker, a
writer or a homemaker, an office worker or a congressman ... there are
unique things involved in your moment-by-moment work since you are a
child of the Creator of the universe....You are to do well, whatever
you are doing, to the glory of God (1Pe.4:11).  Just as flowers that
grow on the Alpine peaks, beauty in the cracks of rocks with perhaps
no one ever passing that way, are not growing in vain because God
sees them, so it is true of the human being.  A person may live
alone, walk alone, and feel that no one is recognizing that he or she
is being patient in the tribulation of loneliness ... but God does
know, and is aware of the whisper, "I love you, God.  Please accept my
praise as I walk alone today."  This is true of people in prisons, in
concentration camps, in hospital beds, or in wheelchairs.... "Work" to the
glory of God can be come in every part of life ... which is what makes
it all so fair.  No one gets a bigger opportunity than another.
And no one is "out of work"!  Edith Schaeffer; [Time with God SB]

How different our thoughts and actions would be if we really
believed this clear statement of God's truth!  How far from God's ways is
most of His creation!    We act as if the earth is ours and that we
do God a favor by giving him back a portion of it.  We act as if
our time is our own; that we can set aside a portion of the week for
Him. How much better it would be for our ourselves and our families
if we would consider EVERYTHING as belonging to God. We could work
at any job, doing even the most menial task as unto the Lord - and
find joy in doing it!  We could go through trials believing that they
were God-allowed, for His sovereign purposes in our lives, for our
good, and find peace in the midst of them!  We could be content with
what we have, knowing that we belong to the Great God of Creation.
Take some time today to write down some thoughts about ownership.
[In His Time; Walk With Wisdom]

What you are is God's gift to you; What you become is your gift
to God.  [Russ Berrie and Co.]