Rhythms of Renewal: The Heart to Serve

Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or no; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of.  — Jonathan Edwards, May 26, 1723.

Has a topic ever come up so frequently that your ears start to perk and you start to wonder what God is trying to teach you? This has been happening to me lately. In my Bible study, personal time in God’s word, and church service, the topic of serving keeps coming up.

Our church has been studying Galatians, and Paul’s goal in writing this letter is to remind the Galatians (and us) that salvation comes by faith alone, not by works. Over and over again, Paul reiterates that nothing we can do can save us. Christ’s death on the cross saves us.  

“If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” — Galatians 2:21

Paul emphasizes that it is not through the law that we receive the Spirit. It is through faith. He was speaking against the legalism of Old Testament law that was being taught by Jewish Christians. Today we are more removed from Old Testament law, and it’s likely you don’t struggle in the same ways that these early believers struggled. Instead, we find our own ways to attempt to earn our salvation, by serving, for example. We try to find assurance of our salvation in our works.

Read Edwards’s resolution again. This was the process I had to go through as the topic continually came up. I needed to examine my heart to discern why I was serving. I asked myself so many questions. Why am I serving in this way? If I stopped serving, would I feel like I wasn’t doing enough? Am I finding joy in serving? In what ways is God calling me to serve? Am I trying to impress God? Am I trying to impress man? The questions continued to swirl, and I continued to sift through my messy heart. Not all the answers were clear because oftentimes our motivations are mixed. I found that sometimes what I know as truth, isn’t always what my heart believes, and my choices are a mixture of both.

Then in my study of Matthew, I came across Jesus asking his disciples to do hard things for the sake of the Gospel. In Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” This threw me for another loop. I found peace in knowing that no good work would save me, and, in some ways, could sit back and relax; but now I’m reading Jesus asking everything of us. How do we reconcile these two thoughts that serving is not required of us but we are called to take up our cross?

Then we arrive at Galatians 5:13-14,

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

This is how we reconcile the two. We are free, we have been given a promise, and we receive it with faith. But we should not use that freedom to satisfy our flesh; we should use it to love others. The love God has shown us should stir in us love for others. Remember when I said earlier that we are given the Spirit because of our faith, not our works? Paul tells us to keep in step with the Spirit and let the desires of the Holy Spirit oppose our desires of the flesh. The fruit of the Spirit is love for others. And how do we love others? By serving them!

A very real example that God used to work through this thought with me was taking a meal to a new mom. I have a confession: I really don’t like taking meals to people. Figuring out a meal that transports well and then coordinating a drop-off time when I have my own family who wants dinner at the same time stresses me out. So when faced with another sign-up, I wanted to say no. Then I realized I wanted to do it. Not because it would earn some brownie points with God, but because God has shown me His great love and it has given me a love for my sister in Christ. And that can enable me to do the hard things that I don’t want to do.

Let’s return once more to the resolve that Edwards wrote. He resolved to examine his heart to be sure that he was not just acting religious, but that he truly had an interest in Christ. I want to encourage you to do the same as you think about serving. Ask yourself if you are serving because you feel like you need to, or because you are truly interested in Christ. Let us keep in step with the Spirit and let our works be motivated by Christ’s love!

— Chelsea Nelson © March 2026