“He will bring to light what is
hidden in the darkness and wiull expose the motives of men’s hearts.”
—1
Corinthians 4:5
As I
considered servanthood and my journey, some lessons came to my mind. One important lesson I have learned has to do
with my motives for service. This lesson
has both convicted and stretched me over the years. The question I start with is this: When can a seemingly selfless act of service
actually be a selfish and self-serving?
My
personality type is that of a Sanguine.
According to Tim LaHaye (Spirit
Controlled Temperament) Sanguines are by nature “warm, buoyant, lively and
fun loving.” Sounds familiar. “Sanguine’s naïve, spontaneous and genial
nature opens doors and hearts to him.”
Now all this sounds good – but there are downsidesL, you can ask those who live with us.
. . a little unorganized, procrastinate a little. Another downside is our desire to please
people and thus have them like us. This
darker side of my personality has led me to constantly examine my heart as I
serve. Are my actions
self-centered? Am I serving those who
will appreciate me in return? Am I
serving the Lord or seeking to please those around me and gain their
praise? I should only be seeking to turn
eyes to Christ, not to myself.
“Be careful
not to do your act of righteousness before men to be seen (or liked) by
them. If you do you will have no reward
from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1
This is a
strong word of caution as I seek to build the Lord’s kingdom – or mine.
Contrast
this with:
“Do nothing
out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider other better
than yourself. Each of you should look
not only to your interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3 - 4
Maybe your
motives are different – pride, guilt, duty, self- righteousness? On the other hand, are our motives pure? They should not like
that of the Pharisees for their reward on earth is all they will receive. These questions have prompted me to daily ask
myself are my motives for myself in any way?
I daily pray that I can see the needs of the hurting and do what I
can. Lord, let me decrease so that you
may increase.
“If you spend yourselves
in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light
will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”
Isaiah 58:10
…. Celeste Sprankle
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