Do Nothing Out of Selfish Ambition - May 24, 2021

“Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me” (Luke 10:40). Of all the ironies. Martha was in the presence of the Prince of Peace, yet she was the picture of stress. Martha’s downfall was not her work or request; it was her motivation. It doesn’t seem to me that she was making a meal for Jesus. She was really trying to make a big deal about her service.

Might there be a bit of Martha within us? What begins as a desire to serve Christ metastasizes into an act of impressing people. And gifted Marthas become miserable mumblers. Yet that Martha within is not easily silenced. Mark it down. When ministry becomes vain ambition, nothing good happens, and Jesus does not get served. No wonder the apostle Paul was so insistent and he said, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition” (Philippians 2:3). Because this is how happiness happens.