Work, School & Play: How to Serve God In Everyday Life

Serving God is drudgery.

Does it shock you to read that statement on a Christian teen & young adult blog? Then let me finish it:

Serving God is drudgery when carried out the way most of us view service to God.

We think of overseas mission work and playing in the worship band. Teaching Sunday school, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or being a greeter at church. Don’t get me wrong, all these are worthy and energizing activities if you enjoy doing those things. Not so much if your talents lie elsewhere.

And then there are the rules—the do’s and don’ts, thou shalts and shalt nots. Following God’s commands can seem difficult at times, and pretty soon we’ve reduced service to God to something we do grudgingly, at best, or fearfully, at worst.

So if you’re wondering how to serve God with your everyday life, it starts with a change in the way you think.

Lauren Thell, author of YA Christian Fiction

Hey, I’m Lauren, author of YA Christian fiction and

blogger for teens ready to level up in faith.

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First Things First: The Wrong Reason to Serve God

Jesus died for your sins and set you free. He made you perfect, and because of that, it is not possible for you to become more acceptable to God than you already are. It requires nothing on your part but that you believe in him as your savior. Therefore, service to God is not a means of repaying a debt, earning extra credit, or attempting to elevate your status before him in any way.

That’s already been done. Jesus took care of it for you.

Still uncertain about this? Explore more in these posts:

Given all that, service to God is an act of love. We enjoy serving the ones we love, and no one loves you more than God. That’s the real reason to serve him with your life. My post The Most Important Reason to Obey God explores this further.

So how do you serve him if you’re not signing up to start a mission in Africa? That’s the big question: How can you serve God in the mundane and do it with joy?

It’s all in the questions you ask. Instead of asking, “How much can I get away with?” try this:

“How will this help me to treasure Christ more?”

Consider a few practical ways to apply this.

How to Serve God: The Right Questions to Ask

These are in no particular order and are by no means the only ways to serve God with your everyday life. My goal is to get your thinking headed in the right direction!

Serving God With Your Wardrobe

tips for modest clothing
how to serve God

Think about the kinds of questions Christian girls and women ask themselves when making clothing choices.

How many inches does my skirt need to be?

How low can I go with my blouse?

Is this dress too tight?

Are leggings and bikinis okay?

These are all legitimate questions, of course, but they tend to focus too much on what we aren’t allowed to have and lead to frustration. Serving God isn’t about what you can’t do but what you’re priveleged to do. So the next time you scour your closet for an outfit or shop for a new swimsuit, ask yourself this:

How will this help me honor the one who gave his life for me?

Taking this question to heart will help you look beyond physical appearances and make clothing choices that convey the love of Christ.

Got more questions on how to serve God with your appearance? Check out these posts!

Serving God In Your Relationships

The most frequently asked question when it comes to physical intimacy in dating?

How far can we go?

This is a hotly debated topic amongst Christian circles. Some say kissing is okay, others frown upon it. And, of course, there are various degrees of kissing, some barely distinguishable from sex. But if you’re wondering how much you can “get away with,” the Bible says not a hint.

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
Ephesians 5:3

That’s a tall order! Before you start grumbling about the impossibility of following God’s commands, however, let me remind you that it’s not about what you can’t have but what you’re privileged to do. So the right question to ask when contemplating how to serve God with your relationships isn’t how far can we go but…

How can my boyfriend/girlfriend and I treasure Christ with our relationship?

Got more questions on serving God with your dating relationship? Find answers in these posts!

Serving God Through Your Hobbies

Most of us don’t spend a lot of time considering God’s Word when it comes to choosing our hobbies and interests. They just sort of fall into place. I wasn’t interested in sports as a teen but I had a strong ear and the right kind of discipline to study music so that’s what I chose. You might be the opposite.

And then there’s the mentality that if it’s fun and enjoyable, it isn’t serving God. So untrue! You can serve God through sports, art, computer programming, spelunking—pretty much anything (provided it’s both legal and moral). The problems begin when our hobbies become our new religion. If you find yourself spending all your time living for the thrill of achievement or the rush of adrenaline, your focus is probably off. God created these things for our enjoyment, not to be used as replacements for him.

When it comes to serving God with your hobbies, ask yourself:

How can I use my talents and interests to glorify the Creator who gave them to me?

Still think happiness and holiness are opposites? Check out The Holy Teenage Life: Real Faith, Real Happiness.

Serving God With Your Career

As with your hobbies, what you pursue as a career is going to take up a lot of your time. So you want to find something that not only suits your abilities but also serves God. This doesn’t mean you have to become a missionary (though some of you should strongly consider this option). But how you choose to make money can either draw you closer to God or drive you away and further from true joy. True joy is not found in achievement and financial gain. True joy is found in oneness with Christ.

The questions to ask when choosing a job or career?

How will this bring me closer to God? How can I use the abilities and interests he’s given me to glorify his name?

Wondering more about how to serve God with your career choices? Check these out!

Serving God In Your Leisure

Books, magazines, websites, blogs, social media, movies, music… What do these things have in common?

They fill your mind with thoughts. Those thoughts can either be nurturing or destructive. What you feed your mind determines how you think, and the more you think and meditate on an idea, the more it becomes a part of you. That’s why pornography is so addictive. It starts with one little glimpse, and the mind turns it over and over until it wants more. Soft porn turns into hard porn because the mind can’t help but meditate on what it has seen.

So the next time you get together at a friend’s house and are deciding if a movie is okay to watch, or are perusing the aisles of your local bookstore looking for a good novel, ask yourself this question:

Will this media nourish my mind with godly thoughts, or will it send me on a death spiral away from Christ?

Hey, did you know I specialize in helping Christian teens find godly YA fiction? Get started with these resources!

Work, School & Play: How to Serve God In Everyday Life

In This Article

First Things First: The Wrong Reason to Serve God