Why Are You Doing This?

You Need to Be Able to Answer This

I just saw something that grieved me. I can’t correct it for everyone, but I can attempt to correct it for some.

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

Philippians 2:3 NKJV

The context is simple: consider the interests of others.

Whatever you’re building, your why matters more than you think. You should not be the primary benefactor of what you’re building. In fact, you benefitting from it should be an afterthought.

This is something we must constantly evaluate as we build.

We build for God and our neighbor. The danger is that we can hide selfish ambition inside our Godly ambitions. You can do things for God and still secretly carry selfishness inside of you.

It looks like building a nonprofit but wanting people to know you.

It looks like building an app that helps people but only caring about getting rich.

It looks like building a ministry, wanting to be known, and caring more about revenue than the people you were sent to serve.

Not only can God see this. We can too.

Here’s the tricky part. You should not change just because people can see it, because that’s also disingenuous.

Anything you build for yourself may succeed in the eyes of men, but will utterly fail in the eyes of God.

You don’t do for God. You do what you’re told.

That’s the difference. And that order matters.

With that order, you will be perfectly fine doing something that does not benefit you at all.

Why are you doing this?

Because God told me to.

That is the only acceptable answer.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

Psalms 127:1 NKJV​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

O.