Serving, Part 3: How To Know If You’re Putting God First

Third in a series about serving

How do you know that you’re putting God first as you serve?

God calls us to serve people. Yet when Christ-followers – both individuals and teams -serve people directly rather than from the overflow of our service to God, we can battle burnout and depletion.

This kind of ministry drift is especially common where pressure to perform and produce tangible results is high – numbers of salvations, attendance at events, or newcomers in the door, for instance. You work hard to reach goals, execute programs, and provide services, investing time and energy in meeting peoples’ needs. Yet without warning your work subtly veers off course, concentrating on meeting the standards set by people around you rather than seeking God’s desire for your ministry.

Are you swerving off track to serve people over serving God first? Ask these three questions to find out.

1. Is your natural value expanding?

Each Christ-follower has natural strengths. God-centered service allows you to use your God-given strengths, but at the same time stretches you to grow those strengths. If you or a team member is too comfortable, you may want to consider why. Fear, intimidation, and insecurity are just a few reasons leaders prevent others from taking on new responsibilities and why servants don’t cultivate the richness of their strengths. You can know you focus on serving God, rather than people, when your natural abilities are cultivated and stretched.

2. Is your practical value multi-purposed?

Does your ministry seek to bless those you serve in practical ways without encouraging them in their journey of faith? Evaluate any ministry that allows people to only be receivers. By sidestepping discipleship, your ministry can become self-serving: servants are primarily concerned about pleasing people they serve and receivers are motivated by what they can get, eventually dictating terms. God-focused service meets physical needs hand-in-hand with spiritual needs. You can know your service focuses on God over people when your ultimate goal is to equip those you serve to have a closer relationship with Christ.

3. Is your spiritual value deepening?

The ultimate test in your service is spiritual depth. Are you (or your team) growing in your relationship with Christ … learning to listen to God … hungry to please Him … testing what you hear to make sure you are discerning Him … and following Him even when it may be unpopular?

If you’re unsure how to answer those questions, then take a pause to re-focus your ministry back on Him.

If the answer to those questions is yes, then keep your ears and eyes focused on God, put safeguards in place – and press forward.