Serve Others

Peyton Johnston

August 28th, 2017

Galatians 5:13-15; Philippians 2:3-11

We have all been called to serve others, but that’s usually easier said than done! By nature, we are selfish people who long for recognition and glory. But serving someone else requires giving up the right to come first. It means laying down your conceit and replacing it with meekness.

Because of our flesh, we are constantly battling with our our innate desire to serve the self. Often what gets in the way of our willingness to serve is our fleshly pride. Pride is an unreasonable vanity of one’s own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, or rank. It creates an unholy distance between us, others, and our God by way of a false reality of being greater than. When in all actuality, the greatest of all leaders must first be followers. Didn’t Jesus Christ Himself kneel down to wash the feet of His disciples? (John 13) Are we any greater than He? If we are truly seeking to live a life that resembles and reflects Christ, we have to be willing to take on the same spirit of servanthood as He did.

As the last portion of our mission for Project 7, we are implored to serve others. Why? Because when you choose to have the heart of a servant, you are choosing in turn to have a heart like the Jesus – the One we live to exemplify. Through our servanthood to others, we shine the light of Christ and who He is. Everything He did was selfless and pure. He gave up every privilege just so that he could stoop down to where His people were and serve them in the greatest way possible. And He did it not out of obligation, but out of divine love and compassion.

Let’s take some time in each day to evaluate how often we serve ourselves. Let’s give more than we take. Let’s refocus our idea of what it means to be great – for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:12)

Pray: “You are the masterful creator and our sovereign Lord, yet You still showed the humble spirit of a servant! I want to show the same love for the people around me. I know that serving others draws them closer to You. So help me to overcome my flesh everyday so that I can rid my mind and heart of prideful desires. Let my life display that of a vessel always willing to be used in servanthood.”