Be assured that anything you do that is beautiful and excellent will be repaid by our Lord

Ephesians 6:8 (TPT)

I remember a time not long ago when I was going through it. Despite my best efforts, everything seemed to be going wrong. And I did not see how any of it was going to work out for my benefit. It just seemed as though I had signed up to suffer in that season of my life without any return for my suffering or sacrifice. And then one night, on the way home from the office, the Holy Spirit met me in an unusual way and showed me, whatever benefits it may have here on earth, my present obedience had eternal value in heaven. That there was transcendent value in what I was going through. And with that revelation, my heart came to rest. I realized in that moment my struggle was not really about the suffering I was going through, but rather the fear my suffering had absolutely no meaning or value.

I am a firm believer faith produces results. But if we are not careful, we can assume the whole purpose of faith is to produce results. That the only reason we believe God is for God to do this or do that for us. That the only value faith has is the benefits it can produce in this life. The problem here is that it reduces our faith down to how it benefits us. And even though God wants to shower us with benefits, and those benefits come by faith and cannot come any other way, thinking this way eclipses something fundamentally beautiful and important about the Christian faith: what we do and how we live has transcendent value.

The Christian life is primarily, if not entirely, motivated by transcendent value. For example, we love because he first loved us, not in order to receive anything in return. It is selfless, but it is not pointless. The new believer radically saved by Jesus who is suddenly charitable and kind to his or her friends and neighbors is not doing so for personal gain: they are doing so because what matters to them now most goes beyond this world and anything it has to offer. They are operating from another kingdom that cannot be shaken, making decisions that have value according to that kingdom alone. They are reflecting heaven.

They know anything they do that is beautiful and excellent will be repaid by our Lord, and so can we.

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