Serving God can be a tough thing to do. That's because God never calls us to do anything small. Whether you're serving God in the ministry on a full-time or volunteer basis, or you're serving Him in the marketplace, sometimes doing things for ourselves seems like a better option.

But as challenging as serving God through church ministry or any other way can be, there is nothing more fulfilling. Moreover, serving Him is the most natural response because God served us first. 1 Samuel 12:24 reminds us, "Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you."

God has done great things for and through us, and there is no good reason to stop serving God. If you wish to stop serving God today, consider why and ask yourself if you fall under any of these categorical reasons.

1. 'I don't like who I'm serving with'

Serving God almost always involves serving with others, and chances are God's going to call you to serve with someone who is different. Not lousy, just different. But in those differences, we can actually become better together.

Imagine how Jesus would ever imagine a government-employed tax collector like Matthew would serve side by side with an anti-government zealot like Simon. But still the two and the other nine of His apostles served God in a way that impacts many nations until today.

2. 'My efforts weren't enough'

If there's one thing to be sure of, it's that you will fail at some point when serving God. But in your failure, Jesus wants Himself invited to your circumstances. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Jesus reminds us that His "power is made perfect in weakness." In our deepest failures, God can create the mightiest victories if we continue to serve Him.

3. 'I'm too afraid to keep going'

Fear is the number one enemy of faith, and it takes a whole lot of faith to serve God. But we need not worry about fear because God also promises, "there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18)

We can have many reasons to fear, but we always have one all-sufficient reason to press on: God loves us and is there for us.

4. 'God's not pleased with my fruitfulness'

Too often we are caught up with the thought of fruitfulness when serving God, forgetting that it's God that makes things grow. (1 Corinthians 3:6)

This causes us to become discouraged because there will be times when our labour will yield no apparent fruit.

However, we are called by God to serve faithfully not fruitfully. When we serve God faithfully, God is pleased. (Hebrews 11:6)

That's because God is pleased by faithfulness. We are simply called to be faithful, and God will cause us to be fruitful.