3 Wrong Reasons For You To Serve God In Church
Serving God by volunteering in church is a great thing. Yet, just like anything else, having the wrong motive can quickly spoil or destroy the beauty of the deed. Indeed, "the Lord sees not as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (see 1 Samuel 16:7).
I've seen many Christians doing what they do in church for the wrong reasons, although they might not know it. While many of us will simply say it's because we love God, or we want to do good, perhaps there's more than meets the eye. We need to know what our real motives are.
Serve God in love and thanksgiving
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I encourage you, friends. It's far better and more desirable to serve the Lord out of love and gratitude for what He has done for us. After all, the Father gave up all He had so that He could have us; the Son gave up all that He had for us to be His; and the Spirit of God has been working to bring us to Christ and His salvation. Ultimately, it's all about Him, not about us.
With that, here are some wrong reasons for us to serve God in the church, followed by a little explanation why.
1) Because It Makes You Feel Important
Friends, basing your self-worth or importance in your role in the church is wrong and poses a great danger to your faith. There are many youths today who don't feel important if they aren't doing anything in their church. On the complete opposite end, there are those who have become too self-important and proud because of their role in the church.
Serving God in church doesn't make us important. Rather, we are already important to God, that's why He created us in His own image and then gave us the provision for our salvation from sin – the Blood of Christ (see Genesis 1:26-27; John 3:16; 1 John 2:2). We serve Him in gratitude for what He has done.
2) Because That's The Reason You Live
Ok, it's a nice reason to stay alive, but no you do not live to serve in the church. The reason you are alive is because God wants you to glorify Him, both in church and outside it. (see Colossians 3:17)
Your reason to live shouldn't be to lead the congregation in worship, give donations to the needy, nor be the star of your Bible study group. You should live to do God's will, and it goes beyond your role in your church. (see Ecclesiastes 12:13)
3) Because You Don't Have Anything Else To Do
Lastly, you don't choose to serve God because you don't have anything to do. You choose to prioritize His will over anything else, most especially yours. Christ required us to deny ourselves if we want to follow Him, and so we must learn not to put Him at the backseat. (see Matthew 16:24)
