To glorify something is to throw your entire weight into that particular thing, and it’s also to say to the world that it is critical to your existence. When you glorify something, you’re telling other people, ‘This is giving me meaning and value and affirmation.’ So if God already has all the glory: it only makes sense to glorify Him. It’s the single most important thing you could do with your life.
— J.S. from this message
J.S. Park: Hospital Chaplain 
That’s a completely different way of looking at “glory.” I’ve always pictured it as shining brightness. I like your take a lot.
Some of the doxologies do seem odd because everything we are giving to God is already His. The difference is in us and our focus. Well put.
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I do believe it’s like “brightness” too, and often God’s Glory physically manifests that way. The Hebrew word for glory is chabod, which is best defined as “weight.” I get what others mean when they say they’re bringing glory to God, but I really believe that means recognizing the fullness of weight that God has in the universe, and sometimes God makes that known by becoming a pillar of fire or a huge thundercloud or shining off Moses’ face or transfiguring on a mountaintop through Christ.
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Love that. Why haven’t I looked up “glory” before? I bet I did and the “weight” idea just didn’t stick!
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I was just reading a blog about “being all in”. It fascinates me how God weaves themes together in the course of life to bring direction. Thanks J.S. I understand glorifying God in a whole new way now.
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Thank you! I did get a bit of this from Timothy Keller, who derived much of it from C.S. Lewis. In fact, one of Lewis’ best works is called The Weight of Glory.
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