Have you ever noticed the normal movement that God gave to human arms? They can reach up, they can reach down, they can reach out, but the shoulders were not really designed for reaching back. Why not? Perhaps the heavenly design has an intentional purpose.
I can serve someone else by being able to reach up, perhaps when their vertically-challenged stretch will not quite reach. I can serve someone else by being able to reach out, perhaps to be able to carry something for them. I can serve someone else by being able to reach down, perhaps when they can no longer bend over without tremendous pain. BUT, how can I serve someone else by being able to reach back? Seemingly, the only person I could serve by reaching back would be myself, to pat myself on the back. God didn’t design our arms for that!
Too many of us are looking for a pat on the back, and if we don’t find it, too often we administer the honor ourselves. “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth” (Prov. 27:2).