Return to the Devotionals page.
In Philippians 2:3, we are commanded to never do anything with selfish agendas, conceit, or pride. While we usually focus this teaching on how we serve others, how often do we apply it when serving God? It is easy to assume that any good work, charity, or service we perform pleases and is used by Him because they outwardly appear good and righteous. However, because God examines our hearts' condition (1Sa. 16:7), the Scriptures reveal His contempt for works motivated by sinful attitudes.
Perhaps the most dramatic example of this is recorded in Acts 5:1-11. Here, a couple named Ananias and Sapphira sold land and gave part of the proceeds to the church. However, verse 8 reveals that the couple's gift was marred with deceit because they falsely claimed that they donated all their profits. Although their gift seemed generous and good from a natural perspective, the couple's deception and underlying motive for praise greatly offended God. Such was His displeasure that the couple suddenly died when Peter called out their deception. As this account demonstrates, any service that is done in selfishness, conceit, or pride not only robs itself of the Holy Spirit's blessing and power, but also greatly offends God.
These principles are echoed by Jesus in Matthew 6:1-4. Here, He describes people who selfishly perform charitable deeds to receive praise, going so far as to have trumpets played to generate attention. Jesus teaches that such selfish service cannot be rewarded by our heavenly Father because it is done to worship the doer instead of the Creator. Because the motives behind our works determine whether they worship and are blessed by God, it is crucial that we properly prepare our hearts before we perform them.
Fortunately, the Scriptures teach us how to do so. To start, we must completely surrender our lives to God. Romans 12:1-2 note how this requires giving our lives to God as a living sacrifice, meaning we trade all our desires for His, allow the Holy Spirit to conform our minds, and purpose to live in Christlikeness through His strength. Next, because selfless service requires doing what God wants, we must ensure we serve Him according to His will. To learn it, we must follow Christ's command in Matthew 6:33 to seek God and His righteousness above all else, who will then reveal His will in His perfect timing through the Holy Spirit. Finally, we must ensure our hearts are cleansed from all unrighteous, self-serving attitudes before serving Him. As 1 John 1:9 notes, God will forgive us for these attitudes and cleanse them from our hearts when we confess them before Him and purpose to repent from them. This is the surrendered, God-seeking, and cleansed life that is capable of rendering pleasing and effective service to Him.
As Romans 8:8 warns, we cannot please God when we live according to the flesh; this especially applies to the underlying motives of our service to Him. As the Scriptures make clear, anything we do in church or for others that is motivated by pride, selfishness, or conceit will only serve to displease God and hinder the Holy Spirit from working through us. Thus, the only life that can produce selfless service is the one that is presented to God as a living sacrifice, is focused on seeking Him and His will first, and possesses a cleansed heart that has confessed and repented of all ungodly motives.
Return to the Devotionals page.