So my buddy who knows I lean heavily Orthodox on most issues calls me up and tells me something he heard in a sermon Monday just didn't seem right after some thought; it was a good sermon, motivating, and then the pastor mentions how "Everything God does is for His own glory"; which is usually followed by a massive guilt trip that protestants use in order to whip them into shape to placate an angry God (they would never outright say that of course). Anyhow, I often remember this being a big issue- God is jealous for His own glory, but now as I look back this kind of thinking seems to present a needy God who apparently isn't secure enough in who He is so that He must create beings to give Himself reassurance that all is well and that God really is as great as He thinks He is. This is the gist of what I shared with Him, saying God is love, and that "love does not seek its own"; which thankfully because of our Bible Studies (and yes I use the Orthodox study Bible), our group- of which he is part- was predisposed to anyway. But is there actually something to God doing stuff for His own glory? Obviously He will get the Glory, but I always thought that was a natural reaction, rather than a sought out goal. In Protestantism we are taught we are made "to glorify God"- this for many at an early age, so it is very ingrained. Am I missing something?