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01-02-2009, 11:38 AM
I just finished reading a really good book - I CAN’T DO IT ALL! Breaking Free from the Lies that Control Us by Tracie Peterson, Allison Bottke, and Dianne O'Brian. http://www.faithfulreader.com/reviews/0764200666.asp . One of the things they talk about is "The more I do the more God likes me." Following are some excerpts from the book:
Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him" suddenly this has been corrupted to " Without service it's impossible to please God."
Now please don't misunderstand me. Here's my disclaimer. I know service to God, church, and our fellow man is an outpouring of our relationship with God. Service is a good thing, and often blesses the person serving even more than the person being served. Having said that, I also want to say that works and service were not---and are not---the focus of Jesus.
In Luke 10 we have the story of Martha and Mary:
Mary and Martha Worship and Serve
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10
What's the motivation behind the choices you make? What inclines you to take one job over another? To serve one person over another? These are important questions to ask yourself, because the answers will help you to eliminate the lie that say, "The more I do, the more God likes me."
Doing Our Service With Joy
There are many other places where service can become a burden, something to be dreaded rather than joyfully experienced. This becomes especially true in situations where one person is doing too many jobs, wearing too many hats.
God Doesn't Operate Like The World
We have allowed ourselves to believe that God behaves like the world. We put our human limitations on God. Rather than allowing ourselves to be transformed into His image, we try to force our image---our attitudes---on Him.
Romans 5:8 states, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Please note this verse carefully. If you hear nothing else from this chapter, please hear this verse. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." We did nothing. We weren't serving. We weren't making a difference in the lives of people, unless it was a negative difference. We weren't taking on fifteen jobs in the church. We were sinners. We were like filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord. But we were the filthy rags He loved. He saw the potential in us---potential to do wonderful work, to spread the gospel, to offer Him worship. But more than this, He saw our neediness, that we were children that needed to be cleaned up and loved.
Our salvation came through Christ's sacrifice---not ours. We have to remember this. There is nothing---absolutely nothing---we can do to earn our way to Heaven or have God like us more.
God sacrificed His own Son, a part of His own heart, so that we might be set free from sin. How could He possibly like or love us more than He did on that day---in that moment? How can we believe that we could produce more affection in Him than He had for us the day He allowed Jesus to take on our sins?
An Outpouring Of Our Gratitude
This is the attitude we should have when thinking of service for the Lord. Our hearts should be so filled with gratitude and love at the thought of what Jesus did for us that we desire to give back---to serve. Not for approval. Not for affirmation. Not so that God will like us more. But because our hearts will not allow us to do anything else.
We've been rescued. We were bloodied and banged up from the wrecks of our life, and our Father's desire was that we might be made clean and whole again. He has loved us with an everlasting love, a love that knows no end. He's promised to always be there for us---to spend eternity with us. Our only requirement is to accept Jesus. It isn't the Jesus-plus system. We aren't to accept Jesus and then do ten really big things in His name. We didn't get a checklist of duty requirements in order that God will like us more once they're accomplished.
The lie tells us that the more we do, the more God will like us. The truth is, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
He cannot like you more, no matter what you do. He's already loved you unto death.
Why do you perform acts of service? For approval? reward? something else?
How do you feel when you say no to a request to serve? How do you deal with those feelings?
Feeling stressed? Rethink your current responsibilities and pray about which ones are really necessary and which ones are being done for the wrong reasons. Let God help restructure your priority list.
How does God's willingness to allow Jesus to die in your place speak to your heart? What do you do out of joyful gratitude for this fact? Write out a Bible verse that will remind you of His unconditional love for you and put it where you will see it daily.
Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him" suddenly this has been corrupted to " Without service it's impossible to please God."
Now please don't misunderstand me. Here's my disclaimer. I know service to God, church, and our fellow man is an outpouring of our relationship with God. Service is a good thing, and often blesses the person serving even more than the person being served. Having said that, I also want to say that works and service were not---and are not---the focus of Jesus.
In Luke 10 we have the story of Martha and Mary:
Mary and Martha Worship and Serve
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10
What's the motivation behind the choices you make? What inclines you to take one job over another? To serve one person over another? These are important questions to ask yourself, because the answers will help you to eliminate the lie that say, "The more I do, the more God likes me."
Doing Our Service With Joy
There are many other places where service can become a burden, something to be dreaded rather than joyfully experienced. This becomes especially true in situations where one person is doing too many jobs, wearing too many hats.
God Doesn't Operate Like The World
We have allowed ourselves to believe that God behaves like the world. We put our human limitations on God. Rather than allowing ourselves to be transformed into His image, we try to force our image---our attitudes---on Him.
Romans 5:8 states, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Please note this verse carefully. If you hear nothing else from this chapter, please hear this verse. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." We did nothing. We weren't serving. We weren't making a difference in the lives of people, unless it was a negative difference. We weren't taking on fifteen jobs in the church. We were sinners. We were like filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord. But we were the filthy rags He loved. He saw the potential in us---potential to do wonderful work, to spread the gospel, to offer Him worship. But more than this, He saw our neediness, that we were children that needed to be cleaned up and loved.
Our salvation came through Christ's sacrifice---not ours. We have to remember this. There is nothing---absolutely nothing---we can do to earn our way to Heaven or have God like us more.
God sacrificed His own Son, a part of His own heart, so that we might be set free from sin. How could He possibly like or love us more than He did on that day---in that moment? How can we believe that we could produce more affection in Him than He had for us the day He allowed Jesus to take on our sins?
An Outpouring Of Our Gratitude
This is the attitude we should have when thinking of service for the Lord. Our hearts should be so filled with gratitude and love at the thought of what Jesus did for us that we desire to give back---to serve. Not for approval. Not for affirmation. Not so that God will like us more. But because our hearts will not allow us to do anything else.
We've been rescued. We were bloodied and banged up from the wrecks of our life, and our Father's desire was that we might be made clean and whole again. He has loved us with an everlasting love, a love that knows no end. He's promised to always be there for us---to spend eternity with us. Our only requirement is to accept Jesus. It isn't the Jesus-plus system. We aren't to accept Jesus and then do ten really big things in His name. We didn't get a checklist of duty requirements in order that God will like us more once they're accomplished.
The lie tells us that the more we do, the more God will like us. The truth is, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
He cannot like you more, no matter what you do. He's already loved you unto death.
Why do you perform acts of service? For approval? reward? something else?
How do you feel when you say no to a request to serve? How do you deal with those feelings?
Feeling stressed? Rethink your current responsibilities and pray about which ones are really necessary and which ones are being done for the wrong reasons. Let God help restructure your priority list.
How does God's willingness to allow Jesus to die in your place speak to your heart? What do you do out of joyful gratitude for this fact? Write out a Bible verse that will remind you of His unconditional love for you and put it where you will see it daily.