Who’s in the Spotlight?

Have you ever served Christ in some capacity and it just felt good? Perhaps it was serving in a homeless ministry and you came away feeling blessed yourself. Maybe you helped plan an event for a church gathering and got a few pats on the back and thought, “wow, I might just do this again”?

As follower of Christ, we are to serve. In fact we’ve been created to serve. Ephesians 2:10 (which happens to be my life verse) tells us, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (NKJV)

But when we begin to feel good about what we are doing as we serve, we can lose focus of who it is that we are to put the spotlight on. We might begin to think we deserve the accolades rather than Christ. It’s easy to lose focus when we start to turn inward and forget to raise our hands skyward in worship and gratefulness that we GET to serve Him.

I never want to get over the thought that, although God doesn’t NEED me to help Him do His work, He ALLOWS me to be a part of His Kingdom work by serving as He directs. It should always, and only, be my love for Him that motivates me to minister.

In Beth Moore’s Bible study, Breaking Free, she shares this: “Our motivations for reaching out and serving others aren’t always pure. My dear friend Katy Troccoli, who ministers full-time asked a critical question: ‘Am I ministering out of my need or out of the overflow of my own relationship with God?’. We would be wise to ask ourselves the same questions. Do we crave the affirmation of those we serve and do they help us feel important? Or do we serve because Jesus has so filled our hearts that we must find a place to pour the overflow?”

Have you ever heard or read something from a Christian leader, minister, or teacher that made you look at their abilities and gifts rather than God’s power, mercy and sovereignty? Have you ever said or written something that did the same thing-pointed more to you than Him? I have, and it turns my stomach when I think about it.

It’s only by the grace of God we even know Jesus. And it’s certainly only by His grace that He is able to empower us to say or do anything that would help another know and grow in Christ.

Psalm 66:16 encourages us to point to Him instead of ourselves: “Come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me.” In Psalm 51:1, the writer reminds us again, “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your faithful love, because of your truth.”

Even sacrificial service can be motivated by how it will make us look or feel. When we begin to think we are pretty good at it, it can be easy to forget to humbly thank Him for the opportunities for serving others He allows us to experience.

How do we keep the spotlight on Him and give Him the glory? Try these 6 things:

Ask God for God sized tasks.
Realize only He can accomplish these tasks.
Offer yourself as an empty, willing vessel to be used anyway He desires.
When you receive a pat on the back, thank the giver but remind them and yourself, that the pat really belongs to Him.
Love Jesus SO much, that you are compelled to serve Him by sharing Him daily.
Let HIS light shine, not yours.

Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash