Your Labor is Not in Vain
Serving is in the DNA of the church. As people who have been reconciled to God through Christ, we seek to display God’s love to others by caring for them and meeting tangible needs. It’s one of the reasons why at TCC we plan service projects during Serve A2Y, organize outreach initiatives in our community, fund Easter grants, give away business blessings, and even help out on Sunday mornings. We serve others out of love for the God who first served us.
If you’ve been serving for a while, though, maybe you feel discouraged. Sometimes, our acts of service feel like they fall flat. They don’t always make the differences we thought they might, and sometimes it seems they’re hardly felt at all.
If you’ve felt like your work is insignificant, you’re not alone. In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote to a church that faced a similar temptation, though with a different root cause. In their case, there existed doubt regarding a major doctrine of Christianity: the resurrection of the dead. Paul affirmed to them Christ’s resurrection and spoke of the resurrection of the dead. Paul exhorted them, saying,
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” — 1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)
In light of eternity, your labor — even when it feels small — has meaning. While we can’t fully see the eternal significance of our work, the hope of the resurrection encourages us in the present.
If you’re feeling discouraged in your service to others, here are three things that may be helpful to consider.
1. God delights in sincere, humble service.
Our service to God is not a way in which we earn His favor — it is a celebration of the gospel itself.
Jesus displayed supreme humility in His incarnation, bodily ministry, passion, and crucifixion. The Son of God gave His life for sinful people so that we would be reconciled to a holy God. Because Jesus is risen, all those who call on Him receive forgiveness and eternal life.
Jesus displayed that God’s good design for human beings involves humble service. He demonstrated compassion for people around Him and met all sorts of needs. Let’s remember the words of the Lord in Matthew 20:27-28:
“It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (ESV)
Jesus perfectly displayed what it looks like to serve humbly. When we embrace regular, humble service, we embrace a God-given calling for our lives, an expression of what it means to live as a human in God’s good design. When rightly motivated and rightly pursued, our obedience in this way is pleasing to God.
2. Our service meaningfully impacts church members.
Sometimes we don’t see it, but our work impacts other members of the church. Perhaps a helpful way to see this is to consider how we benefit from the service of others. All of us have benefitted from the actions others — actions such as serving in kids worship on a Sunday morning, helping with setup or teardown for a Sunday service, or reaching out to meet a felt need. Though we might want to dismiss our own efforts, we all know what it is like to receive, and we know that even simple acts of service like these can be deeply meaningful.
Whether in the form of providing encouragement or assistance to another member of the church, we can trust that our service makes a difference.
3. Our service is a compelling witness to the world.
This is true of both our service internally and externally. When we meet the needs of others in the church with eager willingness and pure desire, we display a compelling picture of Christian love. When we serve people outside the church without conditions, we give a powerful witness to the watching world.
At TCC, we’ve seen this before through different giveaways we have hosted; our desire to give to others with no strings attached has consistently been question-provoking. To serve others with such willingness is a unique thing. At times, it can prompt questions about why we serve the way we do, presenting an open door for us to share the gospel. In our cultural context, sacrificial service speaks volumes.
Ultimately, we can trust that our service matters. Whether serving in kids worship on a Sunday morning, running an errand for another family in the church, or meeting a tangible need in our community, humble acts of service can indeed be meaningful. So let’s not be discouraged! Let’s take advantage of the opportunities before us with eager hope of how God might use them.