Is your heart in the right place?

MEDITATION

Is it possible to be too helpful? Can our helpfulness make life more difficult for others? Yes, if we are being bothersome, intrusive, smothering, manipulative, or controlling. If the help we are giving is driven only by our anxiety, we may just be trying to help ourselves.

How can we know if our hearts and service actions are truly reflective of God's unconditional love? How can we love from pure motives? (see Proverbs 16:2; 21:2; 1 Corinthians 4: 5)

If my experience with God is only about me—only about getting my needs met—then I have genuinely missed what Jesus and His teachings are all about and created nothing more than a counterfeit gospel. If the church is just about me, getting what I want, having everything done the way I want, the music I want, the type of worship service I want, then I have missed the whole point of the teaching of Jesus. I have become nothing more than a narcissistic “Christian.”

Each day, as we follow Jesus, we are faced with choices that will affect the lives of others, so when we choose a course of action, whether to help someone or offer advice, we should ask ourselves, ‘Does my action reflect Christ's concern for others? Do I long to see others grow in grace and find success?’

Let us demonstrate this kind of sensitivity to others—not just for those who sit next to us in church, but for all of God's children (see Philippians 2:1–4).

How different life would be in our committees, churches, and homes if we lived by this—if we looked at the other person as more important than we are! Jesus says, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John 13:17, NKJV).

Submitted by Ina Martin | Edmonton Central Seventh-day Adventist Church