How Devotion to God Transforms You and Impacts Others
- Jack Selcher
- Jul 17, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 28
Summary
Passion alone does not make life productive. While people devote themselves to many things, Scripture teaches that devotion to the wrong pursuits is still unproductive. God defines a productive life as devotion to doing good and meeting others’ needs. True devotion to God shows itself through serving people and helping them know Him. A life centered on God’s purposes, not personal passions, produces lasting value and usefulness to the Master.
Why Passion Alone Does Not Equal Purpose
Dr. Gail Brenner wrote, “Devotion is not for sissies. It takes a surrender of your personal wants and desires into something that holds greater meaning for you. It oozes passion and longing. You might even say that you form a love affair with whatever you are devoted to.”1 Her article suggests all objects of devotion are equally valid.
Quora asked, “If you have to choose one cause to dedicate your life to, what would that cause be?” Kathy H., a former court reporter, wrote, “Animals. I’ve already dedicated my life to them…. There is no room in my heart for people. All that space is reserved for my fur babies.”2 She oozes passion for animals but not for people.
When Devotion Misses God’s Will
Nothing wrong with that, right? Wrong. Her comment reflects a life out of sync with God’s will and purposes. He would label it an unproductive life. How do I know? The Bible tells me so. Well, then, what is God’s view of a productive life?
Before we go there, let’s remind ourselves how much of our lives have already been spent giving premium attention to inferior things or drifting through life undevoted to anything. From God’s perspective, being devoted to the wrong things is not better than being undevoted to anything.
Devotion for its own sake is without merit. We naturally devote our lives and waste our God-given resources on things that return no lasting satisfaction. I won’t identify your distractions if you don’t name mine! We all struggle.
Common Devotions That Lead Nowhere
The love affair with things of inferior value takes three basic shapes. “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world” (1 John 2:16 NLT).
Since these three are not from the Father, it is no wonder He deems pursuing them unproductive. We tend to exhibit a rabid, life-shaping excitement about something in these three categories that consumes our resources but has no lasting value.
Why Constantly Switching Devotions Fails
When we become disillusioned with it, we switch our devotional focus to another promising target. It also inevitably disappoints us. All are unproductive. So, what is God’s view of a productive life?
“This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone” (Titus 3:8 NLT).
“Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive” (Titus 3:14 NLT).
“Onesimus hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is very useful to both of us” (Philemon 11 NLT).
God’s Clear Definition of a Productive Life
We must devote ourselves to doing good and meeting the urgent needs of others. That is how, like Onesimus, we become useful to our Master. Here is the test. Would those who know us say we are more devoted to God than to anyone or anything else?
Devotion to God Revealed Through People
Devotion to God manifests as devotion to meeting people’s needs. Their most urgent need is to know God personally and make Him central in their lives. “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth” (John 17:3 NLT). Those who are devoted to God are devoted to his purpose—making more and better followers of Jesus.
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