Praise is not something we have to do, but something we – that is, religious and irreligious, theists and atheists – want to do. It brings us joy to express our pleasure in good, true, and beautiful things.

C.S Lewis explains it well:

“But the most obvious fact about praise — whether of God or anything — strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless . . . shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it.

The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses [Romeo praising Juliet and vice versa], readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game — praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. . . . Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible. . . . I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about.

My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value.

C.S. Lewis (“A Word About Praising”, Reflections on the Psalms, p. 90–98, 1958 edition.)

So, dear reader, the question is not, will you praise, but what are you praising? Make sure to send that question higher up the ladder to ask, “What do I praise more than anything else?” Whatever sits upon that throne is your God. Like Peter Kreeft said, “The opposite of theism isn’t atheism, but idolatry.” We all share the activity of worship, but not the object.

Now, with your god of choice fixed in your mind, ask yourself this, “Does that thing deserve that place or am I settling for a lesser god?” Odds are, if Jesus doesn’t fill that peerless place in your heart, then you are, indeed, settling for infinitely less.

Christians are not different from other folks in that they worship and others don’t. No, the difference is in this: Christians stopped settling for pathetic and impotent gods so they can worship the True God who’s worthy of such adoration.