Verse of the Day Ephesians 6: 5-6

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the hear,"

Every so often I come across a verse that I always knew was in the Bible, or HAD to be in the Bible and although I had heard this verse many times before, I really looked at it and studied it as it became one of those verses.
Pretty much everyone in their life struggles with people pleasing and I am no exception, when I was younger and even still now, there have always been a few people in my life that everything has to be perfect for, and I sometimes stop at nothing to make sure this happens. No it's not a bad thing to be kind and caring and sacrificial to the ones you love but if the purpose of those things is to make sure they like you then it is wrong
Our service to God requires kindness to others, but it does so in the form or a slave, in obedience with fear and trembling and here is the hard part, with a sincere heart.
No I could go on missions and build houses and give money to the poor and be kind to the elderly and all those other great things that we are called to do, but if my heart is that of gaining praise and not in service to Christ, then it would have been better not even to do those things...would it?
Well it is a hard question because good is getting done, but clearly from scripture God has taught that it is about glorifying Him in whatever is done, so if in good actions we seek our own glory it would have been better to let someone else do the good that would bring glory to God
In the end the blessing that comes from doing good with a sincere heart and not as eye-service will 'receive' it back from the Lord and those who do it for eye-service are attempting to give themselves glory and dimish God's (impossible) and that surely won't end well