Why do we minister?

Motivation for ministry does not come from the ministry, the motivation for ministry comes from the unveiling of the glory of Jesus Christ.

--from an email I got at work. 

This is totally something I have been thinking about lately! Then I saw this on someone's email signature and I just had to post it. 

Sometimes when God becomes your "job" it becomes a routine and you forget that ministry is first and foremost for the glory of God. And not for your own personal glory. This idea hit me over the head when I was in Guatemala and I have been thinking about it ever since. I was very convicted of doing ministry for my own personal satisfaction and fulfillment (to feel good about myself), rather than to serve the Lord. Have any of you ever struggled with this? Anyone? How does this even happen?

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.Who can understand it?

I guess we just start to find identity and in good works and what we are DOING (who we think we ARE) instead of what Christ has DONE and who He IS. What an empty pursuit. That is just not the Gospel! 

Romans 5:8 "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinner's, Christ died for us." 

Somehow I forget that God's glory is my sole purpose in life, whether in full-time Christian work or not! It is when I see His glory that my heart is turned toward ministry. Lord, please continually remind me of this truth. It is freedom! 

This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just like it :) I took it on our last night in Antigua.