Top 10 - Ways We Do God's Work

In reading that title, you might think that is actually a good thing. I'm going to tell you that it isn't so cut and dry. Sure, doing the things we were created to do when God leads us to do them is excellent. That is what it means to be obedient.

But so often we tend to get caught up in trying to do God's work for Him and that is not a good thing at all. Who do we think we are that we're more capable than God of deciding what is to be done and when??? It's funny, but there is a trick to being obedient to God and it's so simple that most of us just plain miss it. Here is a hint...

And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. -- Romans 11:6 NIV

The key to it all is grace. Without it we're done for no matter how much 'good work' we do. We wouldn't need grace if doing enough good in our lives would get us to Heaven. It's an all too common misconception these days that being a good person is enough, and yet the Bible speaks very plainly about this subject and tells us it's the gift of salvation that we must accept and not anything else will do! We get so busy trying to be good and say good things and do God's work that we don't have time to stop...be still...and ask God what He would have us do next. It is far harder to stop and wait for God's instruction than it is to just make assumptions about what He wants us doing and get to it.

So with that in mind, here are ten ways that I think we fall into that trap of doing God's work for him.

• 10 - Thinking God will bless whatever we do because we have good intentions.
• 09 - Passing judgement on a person or situation instead of having an attitude of love.
• 08 - Saying the right things with our mouths but having the wrong feelings in our hearts.
• 07 - Twisting Bible scripture around to prove a point.
• 06 - Anytime we step on others in order to build ourselves up as more important to God.
• 05 - Refusing to share what we know of God's love to others...again, so we can feel more important.
• 04 - Neglecting our families in the name of God.  He would never require that of us.
• 03 - Christians pointing fingers at other Christians over things that don't matter.  It just makes all of us look silly to those we really need to be reaching.
• 02 - Missing an opportunity to perform real ministry because we are too busy with other church work.  Nobody is going to mind if you didn't read your Sunday School lesson if you tell them you spent hours counseling a friend in need.
• 01 - Focusing on metrics and performance.  If we're really talking to God and listening for a response, we aren't going to care how many people we've saved in our lives or how many scripture verses we know.  All we need to know is that Jesus is Lord and that we've done our absolute best to listen and be obedient to His teachings and instructions.  If we've done that, our success will be greater than we ever would have imagined and far greater than anything we might ever have accomplished on our own.