With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men. (Ephesians 6:7)

Have we ever found ourselves “green stamping” our spouse? By that I mean doing something for him/her while internally deciding that they are owed for our “act of service.” Let us be honest in admitting that we do that at times.

It sometimes happens as we’re doing some chore in the house, which is not one of our favourite chores. As we are doing that chore, which we don’t like, we begin to think our spouse better appreciate this, and they better show us their appreciation.

Sometimes we catch ourselves thinking that way, and the Holy Spirit convicts us of our selfishness.

We freely choose to “serve” in marriage, yet sometimes we think we are owed some kind of payback when we do. The human bent is to do things in order to get some kind of payoff. But marital intimacy is destroyed by a “green stamp” mind-set.

We should always seek to serve, not to be served. The apostle Paul encourages our service to be motivated by “good-will” and not by what we can receive in return. The principle of good-will refers to concern for the benefit of another first. Paul reminds us that our serving is not for ourselves, but for others and for the Lord.

God reminds us of this on the day when we are in “green-stamping” mode. We keep a mental score that our spouse is way behind. Then the Lord brings this thought to us: that service is not about me. It’s about how I can join myself in loving my spouse through serving with a pure heart – a heart that seeks nothing in return.

ACTION ASSIGNMENT
In what areas of service have we been “green stamping” our spouse? What steps can we take to make sure we don’t do that?

PRAYER: God, help me to develop a servant’s heart toward my spouse. In Jesus’ name, amen.