From Reward to Response
When I was a kid, I never loved cleaning my room.
I did it—but rarely for the right reasons.
If I cleaned my room…
If I mowed the lawn…
If I picked up my toys…
Then maybe my mom or dad would give me something in return.
Love. Approval. Affection. Favor. At least that’s how it felt in my young mind.
So I’d start the task with an eye on the reward. And almost every time, I’d lose interest halfway through. I’d get distracted. I’d wander off and do something I actually wantedto do. The work felt heavy, joyless, and incomplete—because it was never really about the work. It was about what I hoped it would get me.
Looking back now, what stands out most isn’t how often I avoided responsibility—but the moments when responsibility didn’t feel like a burden at all.
Those moments almost always had one thing in common: relationship.
When my mom invited me into the kitchen to bake or cook alongside her, something shifted. I found joy in accomplishing something—even parts I didn’t naturally enjoy. When my dad took my brothers and me out in the fall to cut wood for our wood stove, it didn’t feel like a chore. It felt like shared life. Presence. Purpose. Belonging.
The work didn’t change—but the motivation did.
I wasn’t doing something to receive love.
I was doing something with love.
And that made all the difference.
Freedom That Bears Fruit
As we’ve been walking through Galatians as a church, Paul has been relentlessly clear about one thing: we are not loved because of what we do. We are loved because of who God is. In Christ, we are free—from striving, from earning, from proving ourselves.
But that freedom isn’t aimless.
Paul tells us, “You were called to be free… serve one another humbly in love.” Freedom doesn’t lead us away from action; it leads us into the right kind of action. Action rooted not in reward, but in response.
That’s where the Fruit of the Spirit comes in.
Fruit is never forced. It’s grown. It emerges naturally from a life rooted in love. And without love, there is no fruit—no lasting joy, no peace that endures, no gentleness that transforms.
Donald Grey Barnhouse once said it this way:
“Love is the key.
Joy is love singing.
Peace is love resting.
Long-suffering is love enduring.
Kindness is love’s touch.
Goodness is love’s character.
Faithfulness is love’s habit.
Gentleness is love’s self-forgetfulness.
Self-control is love holding the reins.”
Love is the key to fruit.
And love is the key to service.
Rhythms of Grace: Service
This is the heart behind our series, Rhythms of Grace: Service.
Service is not an attempt to earn God’s affection. It is not a spiritual transaction. It is the natural overflow of a life already held in grace. Like a child working alongside a parent, service becomes something we share rather than something we perform.
Over the next four weeks, we’ll explore what it looks like to practice service as a way of life shaped by love.
Week 1 — Love
Service begins here. Not with duty, but with love received from God and expressed through tangible care for others. Love isn’t a feeling or an idea—it’s embodied action. A life shaped by Jesus increasingly looks like love in motion.
Week 2 — Hiddenness
Some of the deepest formation happens when no one is watching. Jesus invites us into a way of serving that loosens our grip on recognition, applause, and self-promotion. Hidden service trains our hearts to seek God’s pleasure alone.
Week 3 — Availability
Love often shows up through interruption. The needs right in front of us rarely fit neatly into our schedules. Availability isn’t about busyness—it’s about cultivating a posture of openness to God’s invitations throughout the day.
Week 4 — Kinship
Service isn’t something we do for others—it’s a way of life we share with one another. In Christ, service becomes a means of belonging, breaking down barriers and forming us into a family shaped by grace.
From Obligation to Joy
When service flows from reward, it will always feel like a burden. But when it flows from relationship, it becomes a joy—even when it costs us something.
My hope for this series isn’t that we would simply do more, but that we would learn to live differently. That we would rediscover service not as a checklist, but as a shared life with God and one another. That we would serve—not to receive love—but because we already have it.
This is the freedom Galatians points us toward.
This is the fruit the Spirit grows among us.
And this is the way of Jesus we get to practice—together.
I sure hope to see you Sunday!
Pastor Donnie