Truly Devoted

by Kimberly Hayes 

“Devotion and selfishness are eternal opposites.”  --Keith Green

I accepted Christ as my Savior as a seven-year-old.  I remember “praying the prayer” with my Sunday School teacher as if it were yesterday.  Later, as a Christian teen/college student, I struggled so much with wanting to live for Jesus and please Him, yet I felt the pull of the world and wanted to be well-liked and accepted among my non-Christian group of friends.  I tried to do this “dance” with the world all week, and then on the weekend I would find myself in church and genuinely wanting to live the life of a devoted Christian.   However, Matthew 6:24 warns us that, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”

I often say, “I had one foot firmly planted in the world and one firmly planted in the church, or so I thought.”  There was surely a war being waged for my devotion. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  (Ephesians 6:12)  I really wanted to live for Jesus.  I just didn’t want to have to do what it took to be devoted to Jesus.  I didn’t want to do hard things.  I didn’t want to deny self.  I wanted it my way.

What is devotion? 

Maybe you are asking “What really is devotion?”  Well, Dictionary.com says devotion is "profound dedication; consecration, earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc." TheFreeDictionary.com defines it as "ardent, often selfless affection and dedication, as to a person or principle."

What does it mean to be profoundly dedicated to Jesus?  Does it mean that I should spend more time in God’s Word and in prayer, more time with my family, more time being hospitable to the new ladies at SGC or to old friends that have weathered many a storm with me?  Should I devote myself to finishing the BIG project that the Lord led me to a number of years ago that’s waiting for more of my “profound dedication” or should I spend more time with my husband and children?   The options are limitless.  We’re all bombarded with “opportunities” to show our devotion to someone or something.

How is devotion developed?

Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

When I think about devotion, “doing devotions” or “having a quiet time” often comes to mind, but that is NOT what devotion is.  Devotion is not about the disciplines that we do because of our commitment to Christ; it is rather who we are. It is the why behind the disciplines. It is not about a “quiet time,” but rather I have a “quiet time” because of my “selfless affection” and  “earnest attachment” to Him.  As I pursue Him, devotions being one avenue of pursuit, I become more fully devoted to Him. 

Real heartfelt devotion is my profound dedication and consecration to Christ because He is everything to me.  It is lining up my personal desires and plans with God and His principles.  It is an attitude more than an act, a pursuit to be offered to God to give Him glory through our discipline to His Truth.

What does this have to do with motherhood?

One of the things that I pray often for myself and my children is that we would love or be devoted to the things that God loves and that we would be offended by (or hate) the things that offend God. 

Before we can help our children differentiate between the two, we ourselves must understand the difference.  We must hate sin.  We must learn to recognize it in ourselves.  We must ask God for guidance to see it.  We have been given the greatest resources on earth—prayer and God’s Word.  Go to God in prayer and ask for wisdom and guidance.  Ask him to show you from His Word what areas of your life offend Him and are keeping you from being devoted to Him. 

In the world in which we live we are indoctrinated constantly by the world’s belief system--pagan belief systems, really.  So many of us that call ourselves Christians participate in things that offend God.  We have one foot firmly planted in the world during the week and then we come to church on Sunday and firmly plant our foot in the church house for our “cleansing.”  James 4:17 says, “It is sin to know what you ought to do and then not to do it.”

Be brutal with yourself and ask, “Do I try to serve two masters?”  “Am I truly devoted to Jesus?”  “Do the choices that I make reflect that?”  “Can others see the difference that Christ and my devotion to Him has made in my life?” “Do I really have that selfless affection for Him to the point that I’m willing to deny self in order to seek Him?” “Am I willing to surrender whatever area the Lord may be pressing on me to surrender out of an effort to be more devoted to Christ?”  “Am I willing to surrender my “me”-ness to become a more fully devoted follower of Christ?”

You may be asking what this has to do with mothering.  It has EVERYTHING to do with it.  Remember, you are modeling every minute of every day of every week of every month of every year to your children, what it really means to be devoted and to do all for the glory of God.  How can we lead our children to be devoted to God if we are not fully devoted to God ourselves?  In all that we do in life, whether we eat or drink, at all times, in all places, and in all things, we are to do all for the glory of God.  I Corinthians 10:31