“God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God, Himself, were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to Him forever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 4:10 and 11
God has appointed each of us with certain gifts. Find a way to serve Him through your gifts because He can use all of us. Put yourself in a place where you really feel God is using you. When you move into that place and feel the sense that you’re really serving God, and God is using you, that’s an amazing feeling. Take that step, be ready to help, be eager to practice and do it enthusiastically. There are countless opportunities to serve and sometimes you just have to take that first step.
When God has called you to do something, He equips you. When I am in that spot that I have discerned God called me for, the joy that I receive has been second to none. But, if I act too quick I can miss that. I have to go through a process to determine, is this just a knee jerk reaction? Is this just a nice thing to do or is God really calling me to do that? When I’m called to do something in the tough times, I can endure it and I can get all the way through it. I can survive anything if it’s something God called me to. I’ve experienced so many times where He has met me wherever I needed. He’s provided what I needed to get through it. However, if it’s on my own and I’m after it on my own, I’m often out there on my own. A calling is really to helpful to me.
“The greatest among you must be a servant, but those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Matthew 23:11-12
Serve and sacrifice and He will pour so much back into you, it’s just amazing!
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection and take the light and honor each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.”
Romans 12:9-13
“Even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45
The first time I went to Israel the garden of Gethsemane struck me more than any other place. I sat quietly in the garden and gave thought about Christ making that decision to die for me, knowing all the suffering and pain that was coming and yet, made that decision. It was just really overwhelming. The thought of giving your life puts it in perspective. Now, every time I go back to Israel I spend extra time sitting in that garden. It has propelled me to do things God called me to do that I didn’t feel comfortable doing. I would question, could He really be calling me for this? How do you say no? How do you not take that step He has called you to do when He sacrificed so much?
“Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.”
1 John 3:18
I think you can really know Bible verses, but as far as applying, experiencing and living it out is so important. The heart of it and not the action of it.
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works and let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.”
Hebrews
I like the idea of motivating others to acts of love and good works.
“Then I heard the Lord asking whom shall I send as a messenger to His people? Who will go for us? I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.'”
Isaiah 6:8
I love this verse because he doesn’t even know what he’s agreeing to and he says, “Send me.” The idea of jumping in because we know that God is there, whether it’s Africa or a Bible study on a Thursday morning, just to see how that plays out in Isaiah’s faith in God, saying, “Yup, send me.” I think is significant.
“For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers as you still do.”
Hebrews 6:10
I don’t think I ever think of the reward. For me, I don’t really think much about Heaven. It’s there. I know it, but it’s been amazing to me that the reward side has not been a motivator for me. Although God’s promises are very clear, my mind doesn’t go there.
“Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to those in the family of faith.”
Galatians 6:10
One of the things that I was naïve to, is how much Satan is in the mix. When I first started to serve at the church years ago I literally thought, what a great place to be, to work with Christian people in church. Everybody’s must be working really well together, moving in the same direction. What a blessed place it will be to serve…man, was I wrong. Think about it…where is Satan going to spend his time? He’s going to spend the time where he can do the most damage. Satan can twist things in your thinking even in a church environment with good, strong Christian people.
As you lean into service, it is not going to make Satan happy, so keep in mind that spiritual warfare is often associated with sacrificial purpose. If you don’t keep that at the top of your mind, you won’t fight it as a spiritual battle, and you’ll find yourself getting worn out and frustrated because that’s when Satan’s going to be after you. He does not want you to serve. That’s a losing game for him and he will likely make things tough. Satan will always give you a reason to say no to serving. I’ve never gone on a mission trip where there weren’t multiple reasons to cancel and not go. Frankly, that’s when I experienced spiritual warfare more than other times. When you’re sacrificing the most for God is often when Satan’s coming after you the most.
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave.”
Philippians 2:3-7
“Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”
Proverbs 21:3
How can you ever do enough? There’s no way that you can ever do enough, even if you dedicate every minute of every day for the rest of your life. How do you ever do enough? That’s why it’s not performance based. He has not called us to fix everything. The idea that God is more interested in what He wants to do IN you than through you. Focus on how is this affecting my heart? Is my heart continuing to be changed? What fruit am I bearing internally from this?
There is a story of a kid walking on the beach. There’s thousands of starfish that came up on the shore and he’s throwing the starfish one by one back into the ocean. A guy comes up to the kid and says, like, “Why are you even doing this? What’s the point? There are so many starfish on the shore.” The kid throws one back into the ocean and says, “It mattered for that one.”
I take that idea because it’s never, ever going to be enough. There’s always going to be more need than there are people to fill the need. Making that difference for that one. Do for one what you wish you could do for all.
We’ve all heard the statement, “We need the poor more than the poor need us,” which I absolutely believe. It is more about serving, not changing who you are. If you wait for the perfect calling and opportunity, it may never come, but just showing up to an opportunity may lead to a conversation that may lead to something further. It’s okay to seek to excel as long as that focus doesn’t hinder you from taking steps. Sometimes we hesitate because we don’t have it right or we don’t have it perfect, but with serving, you’ve just got to lean in and take steps. It’s a journey. It’s a great way to live life.
“Learn to do right, seek justice, defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
Isaiah 17, 1:17
“For all of those who exalt themselves will be humbled. All those who humble themselves will be exalted. Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, your rich neighbors. If you do, they may invite you back so that you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'”
Matthew 23: 12
“Know, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilders of walls and a restorers of homes.”
Isaiah 58:6-12
Something I see in all these verses is the consistency, not giving up, continuous. It’s not just a one-time thing, but it’s how we live out our life that way. The idea of shifting the focus from yourself to someone else, is really, the simplest act. Or, in the same sense, if you’re having trouble with that, focus on the character of God in Christ, that will help shift the focus from yourself. There’s an exciting world and the idea of an abundant life that we’re promised, I believe, is found out there serving in where God is.
“Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me because my servants must be where I am, and the Father will honor anyone who serves me”
John 12:26
You won’t be disappointed if you join in where Jesus is working. And whatever time you think you’re losing, that time will be redeemed tenfold. In the same way you can’t out give God, you can’t out serve God. It’s great to serve where you’re really hands on and you’re doing something that’s outside of your normal comfort zone. Be willing to be stretched by God, it’s pretty amazing what that stretching feels and looks like. And, you’ll learn more about God, and you’ll learn more about yourself. Try to find a way to serve with your kids in a significant way, find an opportunity to serve with them to create that part of your family and that part of your life.
Sometimes you may get caught up in your serving and you forget ultimately, who you’re serving. You see the task, you see the person in front of you, and you forget who you are truly serving, “working for the Lord, not for human masters.” – “It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
