Working for God

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Mike

Serving God by serving others is foundational to your walk with the Lord. Critical to that equation is your motivation for serving. Are you truly working for God? When taking on a service project of any kind we have to carefully consider the reasons behind our effort. If we are serving to impress the people around us we have lost our way.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 6:1 (NASB)

There can be a fine line between taking on a service task to satisfy your church pastor and taking on a service task because it is God’s will in your life. You’re the only one other than God who knows for certain your exact motivation. Keep in mind, the Bible tells us that if we are working to please people rather than working for God, our reward will be from people and not from God.

“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:2-4 (NASB)

If you work to please people rather than God you have your reward in full from those people. The example in the Scripture above suggests that giving anonymously is a safe way to demonstrate you’re not concerned with what others think; however, even in that situation if you’re giving anonymously simply to pat yourself on the back you are again acting out of the wrong motivation. You are working for yourself rather than working for God.

Are you working for God or for men?

Ultimately our service for God has to be without thought and strictly a reflex to our love for Him. If we are working for God, there will be absolutely no thought given to who’s watching or how satisfied we will feel once the task is accomplished. Our motivation for service to others should strictly be inspired by our love for God. The Bible tells us that we will be rewarded by God for that kind of service. We are to give of ourselves completely as Christ did for us seeking absolutely nothing in return.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NASB)

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