Romans 1:9
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.
Many people today claim to serve God. However, how many of us can also boldly declare that we serve Him with our spirit? There are several kinds of service that are not acceptable to God.
One is an intellectual service. Such a cerebral ministry relies too much on persuasive words of human wisdom than on the power of God (1 Cor. 2:4-5). Beloved, lives cannot be eternally transformed by means of a purely rational ministry. Remember that on its own, a head knowledge puffs up (1 Cor. 8:1)!
Secondly, a carnal service is also unacceptable before God. Such a fleshly ministry accommodates envy, strife, factions and divisions, among other things (1 Cor. 3:3). It’s ambitious, competitive and political. God forbid!
A third type of unacceptable service is formalism. Such a ministry is deadly because it exhibits an external semblance of spirituality but denies the power of God in practice (2 Tim 3:5). It’s not at all different from paying lip service. It’s fake.
Fourthly, our ministry must not consist of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart (Ep 6:6). With or without human scrutiny or supervision, we must excel in our service unto the Lord. That’s serving God with our spirits. Will you do that?
Pastor Josh