Are you a doer? You know what I mean, someone who is always looking for a way to do for others or fix things you perceive need fixing? Most women are by nature. We were created to be nurturing, caretakers. While it can be an admirable quality, it can become a problem when we don’t keep it in balance.
Martha is a friend of mine who struggled with this issue. She was a doer in the biggest way. She loved to have people in her home and would go to great lengths to clean her home in preparation for her company. She would cook and cook to make sure she had all of her specialties ready to serve them for dinner. She worked without complaining unless her sister was around. Her issue with her sister wasn’t her presence. Her issue was her sister’s unwillingness to help her with the workload. You see, Mary was a curious one and she was bent on learning all she could from their guest. While Martha was scurrying around working all Mary did was sit in the family room with their guest and listen to His stories soaking them in and asking questions. If you don’t know my friends Mary and Martha, you can read about them in Luke 10:38-42.
Martha was so frustrated with Mary’s lack of focus on the work to be done, but Mary was oblivious to the work to be done because she was focusing Jesus. Martha wanted to do for Jesus. Mary wanted to be with Jesus.
As surprising as it may sound, Jesus doesn’t need for us to do anything for Him. What He desires is for us to be with Him, because when we spend time with Him we get to know His heart for us and for the world. He wants to plant His heart for the world in our heart, so when we start investing ourselves in Kingdom work, we are working with Him, not for Him. Working with Him is the result of relationship. Working for Him is to gain acceptance and approval and He will never love us any more or less than He does right now. We don’t have to do anything to gain His love and acceptance. We already have it [Romans 5:8]. It’s why He died on the cross for us [John 3:16].
So what’s the difference in one working with Him and one working for Him? Motivation. What is your motivation for what you do?