Soli Deo Gloria, a Latin term for Glory to God alone, was used by artists Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, and others to signify that their work was produced for the sake of praising God. The abbreviation S. D. G. was placed at the end of a work.
Walter C. Meloon founded the Craft boat company in the 1920s with the goal to build world class boats “for the Glory of God.” During World War II, General Eisenhower asked Craft to build 400 boats in 15 days for crossing the Rhine River. Craft got the job done—and gave God the glory.
Domino’s Pizza, under the leadership of Tom Monaghan, became enormously successful enabling Monaghan to begin building a colossal mansion.About one-third of the way into the project, Monaghan began reading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis.
Reading the chapter on pride transformed his life:
It made me realize that pride is the source of all sin. I did so many things to impress people—cars, yachts, this house. C. S. Lewis was saying that the reason I was working so hard was to have more. More what? More than other people.
Monaghan decided to stop the project immediately. Instead he put his money into developing Catholic projects like Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida.
Samuel Truett Cathay, founder of the Christian restaurant that provides no meals on Sundays—Chick-fil-A—said,
Nearly every moment of every day we have the opportunity to give something to someone–our time, our love, our resources–and I have always found more joy in giving when I did not expect anything in return.