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The Passions

Why do I end up resentful and burned out from serving at church?

So many times people who are big servers in the church are the same people who get burned out, and they leave the church, or go to another church, or do whatever. I've seen this numerous times. And why is it? Why is it that somebody can be so intent on serving and then become exhausted by it, or become resentful of it, or expect something from it? Because it's exactly that second part of what Christ says: not to be served. People often serve and they give their time and their energy, but then they want to be appreciated. They want to be thanked. They want to be congratulated. They want other people to do stuff. They want somebody else to pull their weight. They want this or that. And so the great irony is they have a virtue, which is they desire to serve, but then what happens? They have a passion, which is they need to be acknowledged for it. They need to be thanked for it. They need to be appreciated for it. They need a pat on the back for it. And it's not that we never need these things, but when it becomes a passion, and we feel that we are serving more than others, or we are looking at other people and asking, why aren't they serving like me? Or somebody else hasn't given as much as I have gave, or somebody did this or that or whatever, the comparison, the judgment, all of the virtue of serving is gone. It's gone. There's no reward for it. Because it becomes coupled with that passion of self-love and self-righteousness and judgment of others and condemnation of other people. And when that happens, that beautiful gift of service becomes tainted and distorted, and it becomes nothing of value.

Edited from his answer on camera. The clip has the full thing.

Watch him answer it (13:17)

From “Why You Want Appreciation For Every Sacrifice You Make

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