The Freedom of Serving OthersSample

Believing God’s Love and Serving with Joy
By: Shana Schutte

There are times when I am slow to get particular truths into my heart, so the Lord is faithful to repeatedly teach me. Perhaps you’ve experienced the same.  Some time ago, I took a personal retreat away from home to focus on the Lord and pray. During our time together, the following words came to mind. I was reminded of scriptural truths I needed to hear again. I hope they encourage you in your own walk with Christ:

When you are living in My love, and your heart is filled with the reality of the sacrifice I have made for you on the cross, you will be motivated to do good works for Me. When you understand there is nothing that you can do to earn or lose My love (Romans 8:38), your motive won’t be to earn favor by what you do, but you will be motivated out of gratitude and joy to serve Me. In this there is freedom.

Doing works in an attempt to earn My favor is death (Romans 7:5). But doing good works from a place of gratitude is life and joy. You will be able to tell when you start to live like an orphan, instead of living like a daughter, because you will begin to strive and panic. You will begin to feel as if you are not doing enough for Me. You will feel like a slave.

But life with me, being filled with my spirit, with knowledge of My love is liberating (2 Corinthians 3:17). I want you to know the joy that comes from serving Me with the right motives. And that only comes when you are convinced of My love. Be convinced of My love. (Lamentations 3:22-23).

You will experience the most joy, when you are serving Me out of the right motives (Galatians 5:22-23). This is why it’s always important to ask yourself why you do what you do. If you are serving Me to gain my favor, or validate who you are; if you are attempting to build yourself up and find significance through what you do, you won’t experience My joy. Nothing you will do will ever fill you up. Works done from the wrong motives will be like pouring water into a pitcher with a hole in the bottom. You can never do enough to experience significance and joy. Joy comes from knowing Me and serving Me from a heart that is resting in My love. Rest in my love. You belong to me (1 John 3:1).