for His sake, and not mine

Have you ever had a moment where everything around you stops and your whole perspective on life changes? 

Pretty dramatic statement, huh? I've had one of those moments, actually. And recently, at that. It wasn't brought on by witnessing some earth shattering event; it wasn't a near death experience; it wasn't even a momentous occasion. 

My moment was brought on by mere words. A simple phrase with an incredibly complex meaning.

I had the joy and pleasure to go back to my wonderful church, Pinelake, a few weeks ago for worship. Our pastor's message, as usual, struck a chord deep in me, brought on a few tears, and made me miss having that fellowship and worship within Pinelake.

Chip, the Senior Pastor at Pinelake, was preaching a series of sermons called "Instructions for Life." That day happened to be one of my favorite passages, one of my favorite commissions that God tells us. Seek Him. Seek Him first and everything else will fall into place. Seek His name, His heart, His righteousness, and everything else will be added unto me. The basis of our faith, the reason we were created...to seek Him and glorify His name. 

I don't want to be the kind of Christian that seeks God when I need God. I don't want to live the kind of life that I'll only call on His name in my deepest despair and when I know that I have nowhere else to turn. I want Him to be my biggest passion, my deepest desire. Not just in the depths of my heartbreak, in my weakest moments, but in my greatest joys and triumphs. For that shows the true test of faith, in my opinion.  

The words that hit me so hard were next to come out of his mouth...

"There's a distinct difference in seeking God for MY sake and seeking God for HIS sake."

Wait, what? Explain.....

Do I seek God for my benefits and my benefits only? Do I seek Him for just the things He can provide to and for me? Do I simply seek Him for His wisdom, His blessings, His patience? Yeah, I do, sometimes. And I'm going about Christianity in all the wrong way. It's not about what I can get out of it, what He can do for me, how I can profit...

Well, then how and why should I be seeking God? Because He is worthy, because He deserves to be glorified in every moment, because His name is highest above the heavens and my praises should be to Him and only Him. 

It's like I have a insincere motive in my worship--that in the back of my mind, I know that if I worship Him and follow Him now, that when I really need to call on His name in sincere desperation, that He'll be there waiting for me. As if He owes me one or something...how incredibly childish and immature of me to think this way!

                                                                                                             Source: kjoy-joy.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

I don't know how or why this shifted my whole perspective on my faith, but it did. I've been living my life in such a way to reap His benefits and just get by on the frail faith that I have, without truly realizing the real meaning of faith. It's for His sake, and not my own. It's not about what I can get from this, or how I can be lifted...it's all about Him. He is the Creator of the Universe, my Father, my Savior, and He deserves all of my glory and adoration simply because of who He is, not what He can do for me. 

I want to live my life in such a way that even if He didn't promise us many blessings, even if He didn't offer the world to us for trusting in His name, I would still desperately want to shout His names across the rooftops, simply because He is deserving, because He formed the world, He formed my heart. 

Chip makes a point that is so true and so evident in the church these days--he says that our biggest problem is that we want the blessings but not the Blesser. We want the benefits but not the actual relationship...when the benefits are the actual relationship, the Blesser, God! We're essentially missing the entire heart of our faith with this skewed thinking.


I've been on my knees quite a bit lately praying that He would change my heart into seeing my faith in this way...that He would give me the deepest desire to know Him and seek Him simply for His sake and not what I can get out of it. I am a selfish person by nature, so praying every morning that He take those worldly desires out of my heart and fill it up with His own desires is something that I must do. He is worthy of all of my praise...He is worthy of every breath, every word, every thought, every action that comes from me. I pray that He gives me that desire to worship Him with every bit of my being...I pray that He consumes me. I want to be consumed by His love, His presence, His grace every day that I'm lucky enough to have.

                                                                                                         Source: cokercola.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest