Winning Crowns

Q. I have a question about the Bema Seat Judgment, when we are judged for our works during our lifetime. I’ve listened to a evangelist who states when we get to this judgment Jesus will ask each one of us what we did to work for Him in our lifetime and some of us will feel remorse in that we didn’t do anything to earn a crown.  He then went on to say how badly we will feel to have nothing to give back to the Lord when many others are casting their crowns back to Jesus.  I’ve been quite upset since hearing this man talk.  Is this really how it will be?  We will feel badly that we did not do enough or anything to earn a crown?  It also sounds as though Jesus will feel disappointment in those of us who have not done enough to earn anything.

A. Stop and think.  Will the Lord have to ask what we’ve done? Will he be disappointed to learn  how little it is? Doesn’t He already know everything about us now? Do you think the indescribable joy of the rapture will immediately be followed by a reality check that will have us feeling remorse instead? This guy’s tying to put you on a guilt trip.

1 Cor. 4:5 says it ’s the motive of our heart that will count, not what we did.  If our motive is fear, or a desire for credit for that matter, our actions won’t earn us anything. An attitude of gratitude is the only one that matters. Only things we do purely out of our joy over what’s been given us will count.  Personally, I think that as soon as we evaluate our actions we’ll disqualify ourselves.

To learn more, read my study called How To Win Your Crowns