What is Christian Devotion?
As I’ve prayed and dug into the Bible about how to answer this question, I now see that defining devotion scripturally is more complex than I first thought it would be. My original thought was that being devoted to God meant being set apart for Him. This definition is certainly part of what devotion means as mentioned in Psalm 4:3 - “But know that the LORD has set apart the godly man for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him.” And this concept of being set apart is certainly related to 1 Peter 1:13-16 where God through Peter exhorts believers in Christ saying, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” Strong’s note from Blue Letter Bible for the Greek word hagios (G40) translated holy says, “Just as the Israelites claimed for themselves the title οἱἅγιοι (hagios/holy), because God selected them from the other nations to lead a life acceptable to him and rejoice in his favor and protection (Daniel 7:18, 22; ), so this appellation (name, title or designation) is very often in the New Testament transferred to Christians, as those whom God has selected ἐκτοῦκόσμου (John 17:14, 16), that under the influence of the Holy Spirit they may be rendered, through holiness, partakers of salvation in the kingdom of God.”
It is super important to understand that this is not some kind of holiness that we try to muster on our own! This is not a license to have a holier-than-thou attitude toward other people. No, this concept is founded on Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf and the righteousness that He imparts to those who put their trust fully on Him. Peter begins his letter by stating with gusto, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead….and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:3 & 8)
Because of Jesus, we now have living hope!
This leads us to another vital aspect of Christian devotion, loving the LORD with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength and with all our mind. Jesus not only boldly lays this commandment out for those who follow Him in three of the four gospels (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31 & Luke 10:25-28) as what God requires of us, but in Luke’s account we are given an example that shows us the point.
Here’s the scene described in Luke 10:38-42: Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Mary’s choice to sit at Jesus’ feet —to be near Him—and attentive to His every word is another clear aspect of what it means to be devoted to Him. She did so even with the pressure of her sister obviously unhappy with her choice not to help in the kitchen. She wanted to spend every minute she could in Jesus’ presence while He was physically accessible.
As I was trying to understand devotion better, I came across a word which in the Greek means to SIT NEAR or BE CONSTANTLY DEVOTED to someone. It is found in the New Testament in only one place and that is in 1 Corinthians 7:35. The context for this is when Paul is exhorting single Christians to understand that they are more able to be fully devoted to Christ and His kingdom in their single state (as long as they can remain pure) than they would be if they were to marry, then they would need to be more concerned about the things of the world, how he or she may please their spouse, and their “interests are divided”. So Paul goes on to state, “And this I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly, and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.”
He exhorts in a similar way his concern for the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 11:2-4 (NIV) , saying, “For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” This passage is interesting, because the translators of the New American Standard Bible translate the latter part of verse 3 this way: “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” This is literally translated “purity in Christ” in other translations, but some experts in Biblical Greek felt that the heart of God’s warning to us through Paul was that Satan would tempt the church with his false apostles and even through his own deception of disguising himself as an angel of light falsely. Paul here is rebuking the Corinthian church for falling for the preaching of a false Christ - “another Jesus” … “a different spirit” or a “different gospel”. These warnings are for us as we live in an age of deception that Galatians, 2 Peter 2, Jude, 1 Timothy 4, and 2nd Timothy 3 & 4 all describe.
One of the last pictures of pure Christian devotion that the Holy Spirit laid on my heart is that of the bond-servant described in the Old Testament and referred to in the New. Exodus 21:1-6 outlines laws that the nation of Israel were to keep if they were to buy a Hebrew slave. The main rule here was that they could only keep that slave for six years and then they must be set free, but if that person at the end of the six years plainly says, “I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,” they could choose to be permanently attached to their master and his care and their family born to him while he was serving his master for those six years. The master would then bring the bond servant to the doorpost and pierce his ear, showing what the man had freely chosen. In Romans 1:1, Paul picks up this theme when he begins one of the most foundational books outlining the Christian faith with, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…” In 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Paul shares his testimony and exalts Jesus’ mercy and grace to save him.
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Paul, so humbled by what Jesus had done for him, dying for him and seeking him out to dramatically save him on that Damascus road, lived his life all-in for Jesus. He uses this term 10 different times to describe who he was in Christ or who his “fellow” bond-servants were. His heart response to Jesus was to attach himself fully to Him to be permanently faithful to Him all of his days.
I want to close this with a prayer.
Father in heaven, I want to be wholly devoted to You, to love You with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. Please do Your work in me. Please move my heart to worship, live for and trust You totally as You alone deserve. Like Isaiah in the vision You gave him, I need to see You, LORD, to see you lofty —high and lifted up—exalted, with the train of your robe filling the temple. “And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filled with smoke, and Isaiah said, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:1-7) For Isaiah, dear Lord, Your mercy was a burning coal from Your altar that touched his lips and took his iniquity away. It was declared that his sin was forgiven. Thank you, dearest Jesus, for being my Purifier- my Savior. Thank you for your great mercy. Thank you for pouring out Your life for me and setting me apart as Your very own. Please draw each person who reads this blog into sincere and pure devotion to You, that they may believe the true gospel of You, the true Jesus Christ of Nazareth. In Your Name I pray, Amen.
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CREDITS
"Strong's Concordance." Blue Letter Bible, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2026. https://www.blueletterbible.org.
Tiles spelling “love” - Photo Credit: Emmanuel Phaeton (@emmanuelphaeton) | Unsplash Photo Community
Hope heart stone - Ronak Valobobhai (@ronkaowski) | Unsplash Photo Community
Pure white flower - Quino Al (@quinoal) | Unsplash Photo Community
