What is it that God accepts? Is it our faithfulness, our dutifulness, our willingness to see God’s will through, or is it our obedience? God is a judge of, not just our actions, but also of our heart. He sees beyond the excuses we use to make justify ourselves, and he makes righteous and true judgement. Righteous judgment will always be based on whether we obey God’s word or not.
In my years of ministry, I have found many who equate dutifulness to righteousness. I have seen them serve with all their heart and fight for perfection in their area of service. However, for some, when I look at their hearts, it is dark and selfish. The thing I notice most about these people is that they do not ever truly perceive the mystery of God which speaks to their salvation. They think they do but they do not.
The lack of perception causes them to feel justified by simply serving. It also causes them to judge themselves below the standard of God thus they give themselves a pass for things God does not. In actuality, this is spiritual blindness. This is such a dangerous place to be because if you are blind, you lose vision to not only the operations of God, but also His judgements.
If you are one who feels as if you have been dutiful yet not totally obedient, take a moment and get it right. God is calling for holiness and you have what it takes to give Him that.