Motivated to Serve

“So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”  2 Corinthians 5:9-10

Serving others is hard work. Jesus reminds us throughout the Gospels to serve others. He talks about “the least of these” and meeting their needs. He gives us commands with respect to widows, orphans, and the poor. Clearly, it is our mission, in part, to help out at all times with the practical needs of those around us. But at the same time, Jesus did not want us to see serving as a burden.

2 Corinthians says that Christ followers will be rewarded for our actions in the name of Jesus on earth. And it also tells us that our goal is to please Jesus with our lives. These statements could be misconstrued as motivation through guilt. Sometimes this is how we feel when serving as Christians. God demands servitude from us. But the reality is that there is nothing that we can do for God that He really needs us to do. And there is nothing we have done and could ever do to earn or work our way to our salvation. God’s relationship with us is an unmerited act of favor—His grace, poured out on us. His love for us does not fluctuate based on our service to Him.

So, then, in context, because our actions have nothing to do with our salvation, we do not serve God because we have to serve Him, but rather we serve because we are privileged to do so. We “get” to serve God. And in that service, God promises that we will receive what is due us as we joyfully and wholeheartedly serve Him while on earth. When we appear before the judgment seat of Christ, it will not be to hear the final judgment of death because of our sin. It will be to hear of our reward in heaven as God says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

You were created to serve God with your whole being. It is not a burden. It is a blessing. Do not serve God out of guilt, for there is no payment in work that you owe God for anything. Rather serve joyfully, knowing that because you are free from sin, you can serve God fully, freely, and eternally.

God, when I feel guilty toward You because I feel I owe you my service, remind me that salvation in Christ is a free gift. I did not and could not earn it. You gave it to me. I thank You again for Jesus, who died for me. May my serving be free and full, knowing that it is a privilege that I get to serve You. In Jesus’ name, amen.