Serving in our own capacities is only natural after experiencing the love and mercy of God in our lives. God doesn’t need us to serve Him, but we serve to repay His love however little we can. Yet, sometimes it is that very same thing that consumes us and strips us away from our faith.

More important than serving

Ministering to the church is indeed important, for who will be able to help out in church if not the members? But how will we know the will of God if we don’t actively seek Him?

It is good to serve, but we must not allow the time spent in communion with God to be replaced with the time that we spend serving.

In all things we do for God, seeking what He wants to do, instead of what we want to do for Him is important.

Therefore, we must not have a trade off between cultivating our faith through the basics – Bible reading, prayer, hymn singing etc. – and ministry. We must not be consumed by our service that we forgo the very foundation of our faith.

Child of God vs Servant of God

We all have our gifts granted to us by God and we make use of them to become more profitable servants. However, it is so easy to be so overly focused on being a “servant of God” and to start thinking that our area of service is where our worth comes from. In the Bible, even evil kings like Nebuchadnezzar are called servants of God!

Indeed, we are all unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10); our service adds no value nor worth.

Rather, our worth comes entirely from the fact that we have been redeemed in Christ and have become children of God.

Our value comes from the fact that we have been washed by the blood of the Lamb and our sins have been redeemed. Our worth comes from the cross.

The Fine Line

The human ego is so easily inflated with just a few compliments from people. We feel good when people give us positive feedback, and sometimes we seek more validation by improving our service. Other times, we may actually be serving God to feel better about ourselves, similar to people doing charity outside!

Our actions may be right, but what about our motives? At first, we may be serving out of our earnestness to repay God for His wondrous grace.

However, if we don’t guard our hearts and be vigilant, sometimes pride may creep up on us even without our knowledge. At this time, or actually even before that, we have to continually pray to God, to let us understand and truly know that this service should be dedicated to glorifying God, and not ourselves.

We ought to remember whom we are serving then – God, men or myself? Only God knows the depths of our hearts even we don’t know.

Therefore, with humility and earnestness, let us pray to ask God to search us and our hearts like David in the Psalm.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalms 139:23-24)

Let us reflect on our attitude of service in these past few months:

1. What am I using to serve Him – am I seeking my own understanding or the will of God for my service?

2. Have my attitude of service, thoughts, and/or actions been pleasing to God?

3. If I was not asked or tasked to do any church work, would my faith be of a lower value to me?

“Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.” (Hosea 6:3)