If you love God you serve him with no thought of reward.
Too many people serve God just to get heaven for themselves, not just because they love God-----your thoughts?
2007-07-15 18:47:36 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
For by grace through faith we have been saved it is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.
Those who try to work themselves into favor with God need to repent and believe on Him. Then do the works to glorify their father above.
2007-07-16 04:02:38 · answer #1 · answered by K in Him 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nothing that I can do will get me into heaven- I could "serve" God 24/7 and when I die God could say "depart from Me , I never knew you". I am saved only by the grace of God, and the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. No good that I could do would ever earn me a place in heaven- Jesus paid the price that I could never pay- however since I am saved, my greatest desire is to serve Him and to worship Him 24/7-
2007-07-16 02:09:37 · answer #2 · answered by AdoreHim 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What an interesting little logical puzzle...think I'll make this my last one of the night *smile.
On one hand, if God wanted us to serve him without thought of reward, then why do so many verses in the Bible discuss the heavenly AND earthly rewards of serving him? I have heard people talking about being "slaves to the will of God", but God liked to use the word servant...and servants can rightly expect to get paid for their work!
On the other hand, it is self-serving to do anything because you desire a reward and true love requires putting the needs of the object of your love before your own.
Here's what I think...
The terms "self-seeking" and "selfish" have gotten a bad rap. A certain degree of "selfishness" is not a bad thing. I think the Bible makes it clear in numerous places that God wants us to worry about our own relationship with him and leave the rest of the world to him!
I serve God for the earthly and the heavenly rewards he promised. I do this because I accept that he is my Heavenly Father and that, like my earthly father, he loves me; and, unlike my earthly father, his love is perfect. I accept that he created me and that as my creator, he knows how his creation works and what he intended me to be. I accept that I can be deceived by my own mind (the knowledge of good and evil if you will) into believing that something is good for me because it seems "logical" or it "feels good" (and a whole lot more). Like my earthly father, whom I also love, I want God to be proud of me...to say "well done". God knows that my love for him isn't perfect and that I am going to make mistakes and choose not to listen to some of his advice just as I didn't listen to some of the good advice of my earthly father. Both my fathers accept my rebellions, my anger, and my mistakes and continue to love me anyway and I love them both enough to ask forgiveness when I realize that I made a mistake in not listening to their advice!
2007-07-16 02:38:08 · answer #3 · answered by KAL 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's not the reason I serve Him, It's just a bonus. I serve Him because he is my creator and deserves my respect.
2007-07-16 02:30:59 · answer #4 · answered by Brooke H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No people serve god so they wont go to hell. Unfortunately it seems like its heaven or hell, one of the two and since people dont wanna go to hell, guess where they wanna go. If they couldnt go to heaven, but also couldnt go to hell, they wouldnt bother serving him.
2007-07-16 01:53:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Heaven is where God is and hell is where he is not. We are on earth.
God is spirit, and we worship God in spirit and in truth. Our goal is to be with God.
2007-07-16 01:51:53 · answer #6 · answered by J. 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is the reason I stopped going to church. I was a hypocrite, and church is where we congregated.
2007-07-16 01:56:22 · answer #7 · answered by tremonster 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋