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Praise Him


          Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

          Why do you praise God? He’s God. He’s so different from us, and so superior to us that our praising Him would be parallel to one one of the skin cells of a dust mite praising you. It might make sense to thank Him for what He does – and that is what Paul will lead us into in a moment but why do we praise Him? What does it even mean to praise someone? According to the folks at Oxford, praise is the expression of approval or admiration for someone or something; the expression of respect or gratitude.” So the folks at Oxford don’t make the differentiation that I do.
          Their definition doesn’t solve the problem. Why should we praise God? Let me ask it another way – what does it matter to God if we do or don’t praise Him? What does it matter whether we praise God or not? God is God. He’s omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. He doesn’t need our praise. If praise isn’t for God, it seems logical that it must be for us. Some may immediate stress the notion that our praising God involves our humiliating ourselves or otherwise  debasing ourselves. They maintain that we need to praise ourselves in order to bolster our self-esteem.
Studies show, however, that gratitude promotes relationships, improves physical and psychological health, enhances empathy, reduces aggressiveness, helps people sleep better, improves self-esteem and increases mental strength. (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201504/7-scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude)
          People who praise God know this already: praising God is good for us. Beyond all the things mentioned above, one benefit of praising God (in music) is that it produces endorphins, and perhaps the biggest benefit of praising God is dealing with the universe as it is. When we praise God, we’re reducing our stress because we’re not pretending to be what we are not (i.e., God.)

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