Good Mom Week 10: Selfish Ambition vs. Serving

Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.  Philippians 2:3

Very recently God has done a fresh work in my heart regarding serving my family.  I believe that for a long time I have just been trying to keep my head above water with all that is involved in being pregnant, nursing, raising little ones and bigger kids (throw in lots of cleaning, schooling, moving, and lots more too).  A mom has a busy life and rarely gets breaks.

But I look at Jesus and how He was training up disciples and He came to serve and not be served (Matt 20:28).  It can seem as though we don't have a choice as to whether or not we serve our families.  It may feel like we are forced to whether we want to or not but we have a choice.

We can go through the motions and do what good moms do.  We can take care of our children's needs and help out our husbands. But we can do it all without really serving them. We can do it all to serve ourselves.


We serve ourselves in it by seeking our own good: our own reputation, our own pleasure, our own success...

Or

We can lay ourselves down while truly considering others as better than ourselves. 

The scripture above in Philippians 3 has really grabbed my heart.  Another version says to do nothing through selfish ambition or conceit.  I think this can be a big problem for moms because we compare ourselves to each other and try to be the best.  We can loose focus on what our responsibilities are and miss ministering to our husbands and children and hearing their hearts in our quest to become "good moms."  We can forget that we are here to serve and not to be served.

If we will choose to serve our families while laying down our own selfish ambitions it will help us to stay focused on what really matters and we can become really good moms. 

Do you see the difference between working for your family and serving them?  Have you identified any selfish ambitions that you have like I did?  I am amazed at the amount of joy that comes from choosing to lay down selfishness and truly serve my family.  I decrease and that gives way to an increase of more of the Holy Spirit's power in my life.  And His fruit is so sweet!

*Remember that serving your family well means taking care of yourself too!