The Determination to Serve Feb 23, 2011

February 23rd, 2011 by Dave Leave a reply »

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve . . .—Matthew 20:28

Jesus also said, “Yet I am among you as the One who serves” (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— “. . . ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a “doormat” for others— called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior. Paul said, “I know how to be abased . . .” (Philippians 4:12). Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. As long as there was one human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt a debt of service to that person until he did come to know Him. But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.

Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man . . .” (1 Timothy 1:13). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.

Journal 2 23 11 DJR
Good morning, Lord. Today JD buried his brother. And today my uncle died. I guess we need to get used to this. I have to admit that it is getting easier to let loved ones go… having lost our parents and now some of our classmates. The best thing is if they knew you. We can rest assured that they are better off than in the suffering.
As we get closer to that threshold ourselves, it gets clearer about serving. Serving others can get tiring … but serving them as we work out serving you … that’s getting easier and easier. And making more sense.

Youth has exuberance and gusto, but usually some folly. You are beginning to see more and more from my perspective. Keep on coming. We’ll talk a lot more when you get here.

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