If the primary reason you began that work was because you thought it the best way to serve the Lord, your effort will still be rewarded even though the project wasn’t successful. At the same time, let’s say you worked on a project and it was successful. But you did it for other reasons than serving Christ. Jesus says, “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” [Matt. 6:1 ]