Serving It or Serving Me?

Is this thing serving you? Or are you serving it? 

That was the question I felt God asking me as I struggled with the decision to let something in my life go. In Matthew, during His sermon on the mount, Jesus tells His listeners that one cannot serve two masters. And just a few paragraphs before, He says if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. But what if the thing you’re struggling with doesn’t feel like a sin? 

There’s all kinds of things in our lives that aren’t inherently sinful. Not illegal, not outlined in the ten commandments, not something you’d be embarrassed to have others know about you. But what if they knew your heart as you held onto this thing? 

For example: exercise. 

So good for you! We are called to honor our bodies and steward them well. It is neither sinful nor illegal to work out. However, the heart, our inmost being that God cares about more than any outward thing we do, that heart can twist even a good thing and turn it into a stronghold. We can twist our desire to be healthy into a desire to be, well, desirable. To be thin and to receive praise and to parade our bodies like a trophy of our hard work and discipline. Exercise can become the thing we serve rather than something that serves us. 

What about social media? 

An amazing tool! Maybe the way you found this article, right? Imagine Instagram in the hands of the Apostle Paul! That guy would be making the most incredible reels. And then John or Peter would make hilarious memes about some sermon Paul gave because man did he have some wild one-liners. I’m getting off track here. 

Anyway, socials, such a tool. A great way to connect around the world. But what if it becomes a source of escapism? A way to avoid real life and look into a rectangle-shaped world of all your favorite things? It can become a place where you say things on a screen you would never dream of saying to someone’s face. It can become a pocket-sized slot machine you pull out when you crave a little hit of dopamine. Social media can become the thing we serve rather than something that serves us.  

Food, friendships, alcohol, your kid’s baseball schedule, romance, shopping, cleaning, reading, going to school, leading a ministry, playing an instrument, on and on I could go. All these things can be good, some are even necessary to a degree. But did something you read there strike a sensitive chord in your heart? Is there something that you have begun to serve rather than allow it to serve you? 

Is your obsession with meal planning and grocery shopping and eating out becoming a figurative altar you bow down to? Is your child’s sports’ schedule climbing to the top of the priority pyramid of your family calendar? Is your occasional glass of wine becoming more of a habit, maybe even a “need” at the end of each day you find yourself crawling to as you flip on Netflix and curl into the couch? 

I’ve been there. Oh man have I been there. 

If you find yourself there, too, and you’re tempted to run and hide in the dark room of shame right now, can I ask you to pause for just a minute? 

Simply because we have allowed ourselves to begin to serve a master other than Jesus doesn’t mean He is standing over our shoulders waiting to rip into us about our wayward hearts. He knows they are prone to wander. Not that we shouldn’t take our sin seriously. Call it what it is, girl. Say it outloud. Write it in your journal. 

“I struggle with ___________.”

When we are brave enough to call it what it is, we’re less likely to downplay it later and justify the behavior again. If you really need accountability, tell a friend out loud, too. 

Once you’ve acknowledged it and owned it, give it straight to Jesus. He isn’t mad at you. He is gentle and lowly (Matthew 28) and eager to forgive the things we confess to Him. His desire is for hearts that serve Him alone. This isn’t just for His glory, but for our good. Nothing good comes from attempting to serve two masters. 

And the amazing thing about fully serving Jesus and being honest about our weaknesses is that it gives others permission to confess their struggles, too. 

It won’t be easy. It’s never easy to untangle the vines of idol worship from around our hearts. It will be painful. You will miss the thing you cut off. You will be tempted to go back to it. 

You will also see new fruit grow. Fruit of contentment only found in God. Fruit of a girl who has learned to be dependent on a trustworthy Father. Fruit that is lovely and wholesome and will benefit the entire community around her. 

So, what is the thing you are serving? Is it serving to make you more into who God intended you to be? Or is it fighting to build a sneaky little altar? Cut it off, be free, Jesus will help you. 

Grace and peace. 

Taking it further:

Were you able to identify something in your life that is no longer serving you well? 

What are you going to do next?