Clearly, God wants us to worship Him, but why should we?

[74x12]

There are two questions I would like you to answer.

1. Since God is fully self-sufficient and fully self- sustaining, omnipotent and omniscient, God does not need humans for anything, so why does God want us to worship Him?

2. Look at these scriptures from various religions. They all say essentially the same thing. God wants us to worship Him, but why should we? What has God done to deserve our worship?

Bhagavad Gita 7.1 The Supreme Lord said: Now listen, O Arjun, how, with the mind attached exclusively to me, and surrendering to me through the practice of bhakti yog, you can know me completely, free from doubt.

Exodus 20:1-3 And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no God except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.” (Quran 20:14)

“VERILY I am God, no God is there but Me, and aught except Me is but My creation. Say, worship Me then, O ye, My creatures.” Selections From the Writings of the Báb, p. 158

“O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come. The Kingdom is God’s, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift up your faces unto your Lord, the Lord of all names. This is a Revelation to which whatever ye possess can never be compared, could ye but know it.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 210

I can't speak for all those religions. But as for the Christian God; we believe that He loves us and so wants to be in our presence. To worship God is to enter into His presence. This is why God wants us to worship Him because he enjoys our company. Now that is how we feel the joy of the Lord. It's actually the joy God has to be with us. This loving people brings God rest and in return also gives people spiritual rest for their soul.

Zeph. 3:17
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Psalm 16:11
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

 

[InChrist]

No, because I do not think that would ever happen.
People can imagine anything, but that does not mean it is really happening.

So your mind is made up before you even ask Jesus.

 

[osgart]

I do trust 'certain scriptures' as being true but words alone don't do anything for me on more than an intellectual level, and even though I understand the scriptures on an intellectual level, I still need evidence or irrefutable expressions of what everything means.

That is now I see it too and how Baha'u'llah depicts God, for all intents and purposes.

I see nature similarly and it also tells me a different story than God.

I would not expect God to do that even though hypothetically He could, because that would leave nothing for humans to do but sit around and have fun, and I do not see fun as the purpose of our existence or as even something we need. Solving problems is one thing humans were designed for and it enriches our lives and grows our souls.

Eliminating evil would be worthy of God to do. There's plenty of other problems, and issues in nature. Unless humanity is the ignorance and evil that needs fixing. Then perhaps time here is necessary to God's Truth.

I am a little frustrated with reasons why God wants this Earth to be as it is. I know some extremely nice people and I can't imagine any heavenly need for them to do time on Earth. Earth does have its beauty and inspiration though.

A Supreme creator creates supremely. This nature isn't supreme. Why is that?

 

[Regiomontanus]

...


Setting aside what I just said, if two of God's characteristics are omnibenevolence and being the creator of all that exists - which they classically are - I'd say it's pretty self-evident why God would deserve our worship. If your parents brought you into the world and have been good parents to you, do they not deserve your respect? It's a very similar situation with God.

Yes. And I thank God for another day of life every morning when I awake. Humility and gratitude for our existence are things more people need to work on IMHO.

 

[QuestioningMind]

There are two questions I would like you to answer.

1. Since God is fully self-sufficient and fully self- sustaining, omnipotent and omniscient, God does not need humans for anything, so why does God want us to worship Him?

2. Look at these scriptures from various religions. They all say essentially the same thing. God wants us to worship Him, but why should we? What has God done to deserve our worship?

Bhagavad Gita 7.1 The Supreme Lord said: Now listen, O Arjun, how, with the mind attached exclusively to me, and surrendering to me through the practice of bhakti yog, you can know me completely, free from doubt.

Exodus 20:1-3 And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no God except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.” (Quran 20:14)

“VERILY I am God, no God is there but Me, and aught except Me is but My creation. Say, worship Me then, O ye, My creatures.” Selections From the Writings of the Báb, p. 158

“O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come. The Kingdom is God’s, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift up your faces unto your Lord, the Lord of all names. This is a Revelation to which whatever ye possess can never be compared, could ye but know it.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 210

1 I've always wondered the same thing. I could perhaps see a God desiring respect and perhaps a certain level of gratitude for certain things, but not this insistence upon worship. Sounds far more like a human flaw to me than any quality that a supreme being would have.

2. That seems to me to be the proper question to ask. Why does God DESERVE anyone's worship? Perhaps respect and gratitude, but certainly not worship. In order for me to worship someone or some thing it would at least have to be flawless... and even then I'm not sure perfection is necessarily deserving of worship. But the God depicted in the bible is FAR from flawless. According to the bible he has committed some truly wicked and vile acts, so worshiping such an entity would be completely out of the question.

 

[Workman]

There are two questions I would like you to answer.

1. Since God is fully self-sufficient and fully self- sustaining, omnipotent and omniscient, God does not need humans for anything, so why does God want us to worship Him?

2. Look at these scriptures from various religions. They all say essentially the same thing. God wants us to worship Him, but why should we? What has God done to deserve our worship?

Bhagavad Gita 7.1 The Supreme Lord said: Now listen, O Arjun, how, with the mind attached exclusively to me, and surrendering to me through the practice of bhakti yog, you can know me completely, free from doubt.

Exodus 20:1-3 And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no God except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.” (Quran 20:14)

“VERILY I am God, no God is there but Me, and aught except Me is but My creation. Say, worship Me then, O ye, My creatures.” Selections From the Writings of the Báb, p. 158

“O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come. The Kingdom is God’s, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift up your faces unto your Lord, the Lord of all names. This is a Revelation to which whatever ye possess can never be compared, could ye but know it.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 210

I have spent my entire life worshiping in who I am

The Word ‘Worship’ becomes of which you have learnt from in its(yours) becoming..

In THAT you giveth...your time...and your effort..will become..IT IS now your Purpose.

Therefore, YOU (WILL) be who and why THE you are....to your meaning(understandings).

For Everything THAT was, to everything THAT is, became off..from THAT! was by your (learning)worship”ping”...IN.

Like any child in school...was in its worshipping of education/knowledge. Or a child GOING to school..was by the worshipping in the Laws of Mankind(compulsory for knowledge).

In other words...
It is...YOU, by Your WILL(s)....
What your WILL become, YOU-WILL be done! Another way to say it...What you believed(worshipped) was what you became.

The Word Worship was parted from its ORDER...

one will become of its whole ORDER..which will(learnt) be ITs(of theirs).... ‘WORTHY’(one whole); Of being YOU and yours.

I am ALWAYS in ORDER...
and for those that are NOT! Will be out of..Order.
And If one knew GOD then that one will know that GOD is Always in ORDER.

Is there not One worthy in what they’ve earned(eaten/worshiped)?
Than one will also be NOT worthy of what they DO NOT believe(worship/learn)..IN.



God bless Trailblazer

 

[Trailblazer]

So your mind is made up before you even ask Jesus.

No, I am just not very optimistic.

 

[Trailblazer]

Yes. And I thank God for another day of life every morning when I awake. Humility and gratitude for our existence are things more people need to work on IMHO.

You might be singing another tune if you were suffering, just saying....
Or you might be grateful to God for your suffering, I don;t know.
But what if you wished you had never existed, how then could you be grateful to God for your existence?

 

[QuestioningMind]

Turn it around. If You want to worship god and You feel you are worthy of god's presence, blessings, and grace, etc, you'd want to worship him. It would be a desire. If you see yourself limited then asking why would god want your worship would make sense-because you (people in this mindset) are belittling yourself to be worthy of god. And when you don't feel you are worthy of god, you question whether god should be worthy of your attention.

How can I say this.

It's like saying "I am a bad person. Why would anyone like me? I am not worthy of being liked, because I am inherited bad or inherited sinful.

Why does god wants us to worship him?

"I don't deserve god's 'desires' his 'wants'. I'm not worthy of his wishes." (Catch 22)

That's what it looks like. Turn it around.

Why AM I worthy of god's love? Because... i.e. I love others. So that is WHY I will worship god and he wants me to worship him because I give love to others, to god, AND to myself. He wants me to worship him because he wants me to see in myself that I am loved not only by others but by god himself. He wants you to acknowledge him (like a parent) because he is the SOURCE of that love.

Worship meaning you give acknowledge and reverence to someone or something higher or more worthy of respect than yourself. Bowing, etc, are cultural but it all balls down to acknowledgement, reverence, and respect.

I know I'm not a believer or anything, so take it as is. But in my personal understanding of it, this is why god would want you to worship him. I believe we all can grasp other people's spiritual concepts if we took interest.

I'm not sure I follow what you're saying. I can make a person feel as if they are worthy of my presence blessings and grace without a need for them to worship me. Furthermore, a person can make me feel worthy of being in their presence, and receiving their blessings and grace without me feeling a need to worship them. Respect them and be grateful to them, but not worship. I see no reason to inject a need to deem anyone as 'higher' or 'more worthy of respect' into the equation. Better to see it as EVERYONE has value and is deserving of respect, in my opinion.

 

[QuestioningMind]

You might be singing another tune if you were suffering, just saying....
Or you might be grateful to God for your suffering, I don;t know.
But what if you wished you had never existed, how then could you be grateful to God for your existence?

Excellent question.

 

[Trailblazer]

Eliminating evil would be worthy of God to do. There's plenty of other problems, and issues in nature. Unless humanity is the ignorance and evil that needs fixing. Then perhaps time here is necessary to God's Truth.

I believe that God is trying to eliminate evil by sending Messengers whose teachings would eliminate evil if people followed them. It is a work in progress. We'll just have to see how it goes with Baha'u'llah. I hear it is going well with the Baha'is all over the world but i am not involved in any of their activities.

I am a little frustrated with reasons why God wants this Earth to be as it is. I know some extremely nice people and I can't imagine any heavenly need for them to do time on Earth. Earth does have its beauty and inspiration though.

I do not think God wants the Earth to be as it is. I think God wants humans to change what needs changing and make it better.
The need to be on Earth is so we can prepare for Heaven.

A Supreme creator creates supremely. This nature isn't supreme. Why is that?

Nature is whatever God created it to be for whatever reasons, but that too can be improved upon by human efforts.

 

[Kenny]

There are two questions I would like you to answer.

1. Since God is fully self-sufficient and fully self- sustaining, omnipotent and omniscient, God does not need humans for anything, so why does God want us to worship Him?

2. Look at these scriptures from various religions. They all say essentially the same thing. God wants us to worship Him, but why should we? What has God done to deserve our worship?

Exodus 20:1-3 And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

1) I don't see where God said "Worship me". We find Jesus saying, "If you are going to worship a God, then worship the Lord and serve Him only". Or, in other words, if anyone deserves worship - God deserves it. But I don't see where He said "HEY YOU, WORSHIP ME".
2) Basically it is just giving honor to honor is due. If you honor a thief, something just doesn't sit right. We all honor someone... don't have to but we want to.
3) What has He done? Well, in Christian terms, He not only created all things for us, but He also paid the price for the wrong we have done and continues to give us everything that is good.

We honor a lot of people for laying down their lives for other people. Jesus laid down His life for us.

Anyway, in the Christian perspective that is why we believe He deserves our worship.

And as far as worshipping... I don't have to, I want to.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I'm not sure I follow what you're saying. I can make a person feel as if they are worthy of my presence blessings and grace without a need for them to worship me. Furthermore, a person can make me feel worthy of being in their presence, and receiving their blessings and grace without me feeling a need to worship them. Respect them and be grateful to them, but not worship. I see no reason to inject a need to deem anyone as 'higher' or 'more worthy of respect' into the equation. Better to see it as EVERYONE has value and is deserving of respect, in my opinion.

Change your concept of worship. It doesn't need to be submission to a higher power but treating someone or something with reverence and worthy of respect.

So, there isn't a need in worship, but a want. A lot of times people say god "wants" us to worship him (to put him higher than themselves) because that's how they receive grace and love is "through their act of worship". Without the "Act", they experience no love or grace (to make a point).

The last part, everyone sees things differently. Some people need to set someone or something separate then themselves (make a difference between mundane and spiritual) while others do not. The concept is still the same, though.

It's about the act of worship. For example, a christian can bow down to a Pagan god, but in their definition, it's not worship because they don't experience the love and grace in the act of worshiping something or someone other than their lord. Although the Pagan god, Jehovah, whatever god did not say anything, its the people who dictate what is worship and what isnt. The gods have nothing to do with it.

 

[Trailblazer]

1 I've always wondered the same thing. I could perhaps see a God desiring respect and perhaps a certain level of gratitude for certain things, but not this insistence upon worship. Sounds far more like a human flaw to me than any quality that a supreme being would have.

I wasn't thinking this thread would draw so many atheists but I am glad it did. There definitely needs to be a balance.

Now I will give you my opinion, which is based upon my beliefs. I do not think that God needs respect, gratitude or worship for Himself, because God has no needs. I do not know what God wants unless it is revealed in scriptures but it says in scriptures that God wants our worship. However, I do not believe that God wants our worship for Himself, but rather because it is beneficial for us to worship God. But why is it beneficial for us? I think one reason is so we won't worship other things that are not worthy of worship: money, material things, physical pleasures, things that will not benefit us in this life and especially not in the afterlife.

That brings us to the next question. if these other things are not worthy of worship, why is God so worthy of worship?

2. That seems to me to be the proper question to ask. Why does God DESERVE anyone's worship? Perhaps respect and gratitude, but certainly not worship. In order for me to worship someone or some thing it would at least have to be flawless... and even then I'm not sure perfection is necessarily deserving of worship. But the God depicted in the bible if FAR from flawless. According to the bible he has committed some truly wicked and vile acts, so worshiping such an entity would be completely out of the question.

In my opinion, God only deserves respect and gratitude if God did 'something' to earn that. If God created us and if God is benevolent, and especially if God sent us Messengers, then God deserves respect and gratitude. God would also be worthy of worship for those reasons, but I still have an issue with worship of anyone, even God -- unless I have the 'desire' to worship God. Love cannot be forced.

Perhaps the desire is not there because I do not have as high of an opinion of God as my fellow believers. It is not because of anything God purportedly did in the Bible, because I do not even believe God did all those wicked things. It is because of the way the world was created by God, to have the potential to cause so much suffering; for example, what we see with this latest pandemic. God might not have caused it, but God created the natural world which made it possible.

 

[Regiomontanus]

You might be singing another tune if you were suffering, just saying....
Or you might be grateful to God for your suffering, I don;t know.
But what if you wished you had never existed, how then could you be grateful to God for your existence?

That is a lot of mights and ifs . I am here and I am grateful - even more so every time I see my grandkids.

 

[Fool]

There are two questions I would like you to answer.

1. Since God is fully self-sufficient and fully self- sustaining, omnipotent and omniscient, God does not need humans for anything, so why does God want us to worship Him?

2. Look at these scriptures from various religions. They all say essentially the same thing. God wants us to worship Him, but why should we? What has God done to deserve our worship?

Bhagavad Gita 7.1 The Supreme Lord said: Now listen, O Arjun, how, with the mind attached exclusively to me, and surrendering to me through the practice of bhakti yog, you can know me completely, free from doubt.

Exodus 20:1-3 And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no God except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.” (Quran 20:14)

“VERILY I am God, no God is there but Me, and aught except Me is but My creation. Say, worship Me then, O ye, My creatures.” Selections From the Writings of the Báb, p. 158

“O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come. The Kingdom is God’s, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift up your faces unto your Lord, the Lord of all names. This is a Revelation to which whatever ye possess can never be compared, could ye but know it.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 210

The awe of love, the reverence of loving kindness, is the beginning of light, of wisdom.

 

[Trailblazer]

1) I don't see where God said "Worship me". We find Jesus saying, "If you are going to worship a God, then worship the Lord and serve Him only". Or, in other words, if anyone deserves worship - God deserves it. But I don't see where He said "HEY YOU, WORSHIP ME".

I see Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab and Baha'u'llah telling is to worship God, and if they are speaking for God, that means God wants our worship. Maybe God is not commanding us but.....

2) Basically it is just giving honor to honor is due. If you honor a thief, something just doesn't sit right. We all honor someone... don't have to but we want to.

That is a good point. I think it is fine to worship God if we honor God but what if we don't?
The scriptures do not take that into consideration.

3) What has He done? Well, in Christian terms, He not only created all things for us, but He also paid the price for the wrong we have done and continues to give us everything that is good.

We honor a lot of people for laying down their lives for other people. Jesus laid down His life for us.

I do not believe in original sin but I believe Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, so that is something to be grateful to Jesus for, but I do not believe Jesus is God. God creates all things for us but not everything in this world is good and what is good is not necessarily something God gave us.

Anyway, in the Christian perspective that is why we believe He deserves our worship.

And as far as worshipping... I don't have to, I want to.

That's good, I wish I felt that way. Maybe that will change.

 

[Trailblazer]

I am here and I am grateful - even more so every time I see my grandkids.

That's good but not everyone is that fortunate. Some people had no kids or grandkids and I won't tell you the rest.

I am grateful for the little things, like the little bird who hit his head an the glass patio door finally recovered and flew away.....
but you have no idea how much some people suffer unless you have walked a mile in their moccasins.

 

[QuestioningMind]

Change your concept of worship. It doesn't need to be submission to a higher power but treating someone or something with reverence and worthy of respect.

So, there isn't a need in worship, but a want. A lot of times people say god "wants" us to worship him (to put him higher than themselves) because that's how they receive grace and love is "through their act of worship". Without the "Act", they experience no love or grace (to make a point).

The last part, everyone sees things differently. Some people need to set someone or something separate then themselves (make a difference between mundane and spiritual) while others do not. The concept is still the same, though.

It's about the act of worship. For example, a christian can bow down to a Pagan god, but in their definition, it's not worship because they don't experience the love and grace in the act of worshiping something or someone other than their lord. Although the Pagan god, Jehovah, whatever god did not say anything, its the people who dictate what is worship and what isnt. The gods have nothing to do with it.

Change your concept of worship. It doesn't need to be submission to a higher power

I based my concept of worship on the definition you provided in your previous post.

Worship meaning you give acknowledge and reverence to someone or something higher or more worthy of respect than yourself.

 

[YoursTrue]

You have a good point. Such a being would not want it for Himself, but there could be another reason he wants it.
I believe God wants us to worship Him for our own benefit, but I am still trying to figure out how it benefits us, thus this thread.

I haven't read all of the answers, but what do you think worship is anyway? I would think worship involves knowing who God is, loving Him, and following his commandments. Not abject subservience, or if a person doesn't want to worship him, thinking God will let him do whatever he wants no matter what, forever.