Do You Know Your Why?
Hey Youth Pastor, How’s your heart? (Part 5)
“I’m bitter toward our students,” I confessed to the group around the table. Burnt out and frustrated, I felt like none of the kids were buying into what I was building. God didn’t leave me there, but that moment revealed something deeper: I had started serving from the wrong place. My “why” had quietly shifted. It had become about effectiveness, and wherever I didn’t see fruit, I felt irritated and disillusioned.
What’s your why?
If someone asked, “Why do you do it? Why do you serve the church in this way?” what would you say? That’s not always an easy question. Most of us can remember why we started, but is that still the reason we keep going? On the days when it isn’t fun, when things don’t go your way, when no one seems to notice, what keeps you showing up?
Your answer to that question is a key to staying healthy in ministry. Because those days will come. And when they do, they’ll expose every shallow answer we’ve tried to substitute.
I won’t list every wrong motive we fall into, but most of them have the same root: pride. I’ve stepped off Jesus’ plan and onto mine. I’m trusting my strength instead of His. I’m trying to build what only He can.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”
— Psalm 127:1
Your strength won’t accomplish God’s plan. You can’t build His church without Him.
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So what does that vanity look like, building without God?
Most of us hit that wall in one of two ways: we implode with insecurity or explode with frustration. Pride pulls us inward or pushes us outward, but either way, it pulls us off-center from Jesus.
Insecurity rises up when our plans fail and we start to think, What’s wrong with me? We tell ourselves if we were better, more creative, more disciplined, more impressive, then God would be doing more.
Frustration erupts when people don’t respond the way we hoped and we ask, What’s wrong with them? If they could just see how smart I am, how good my plan is, God could really do something!
Both responses are fueled by pride. They shift the focus off of Jesus and onto ourselves. We become the Chief Architect of God’s building project and expect Him to bless our blueprints.
So how do we fix it? What’s the right motive for our service?
In a word: faithfulness.
I serve God, not to be impressive, not to get results, not to prove anything. I serve to be faithful with what He’s given me.
Faithfulness will look different in every season, but it’s a motive that doesn’t run dry. It takes the pressure off performance and puts it back on trust. God is building His house and He’s invited us to help. Maybe you’re in a season like I was, frustrated, discouraged, wondering if any of it matters. Take the pressure off fixing everything. Instead, ask: How can I be faithful today? I’m not saying that this makes ministry easy. We’ll still have hard days, and that’s why our health in it matters so much. Healthy ministry is built on faithfulness. And as you keep going, each small act becomes another stone in something far bigger that only God can build.
Jesus said,
“I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it.”
— Matthew 16:18
It’s His church. He’s the builder.And He’s invited you to join Him.
So stay faithful. He’ll do what only He can do.
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