Don’t Limit Your Service to Others
By Jon Walker
“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” Luke 22:27 (NIV)
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As a new creation in Christ, you no longer need to be motivated by fear. You’re now free to view life in terms of what is best for others. This activates the fruit of the Spirit, love in its many flavors: joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.
When God and his loving nature become your point of reference, you can start asking: “What is God’s best for others in this situation?” This will inspire you to offer a quality of service to others far beyond what you’re likely to give if you only offer them your own ideas of what is best.
The apostle Paul tells us that the mind of Christ will guide our service. If something is not true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, or of good report, if a thought is not excellent and praiseworthy, we allow the mind of Christ to filter it out of our strategy of service (Philippians 4:8).
Our service is enabled by God’s “mighty power at work within us . . . able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope” (Ephesians 3:20 NLT).
Here’s the issue: Don’t allow your vision of what is possible in serving others to be limited by what you see as your own strength and resources.
Your objective-in-Jesus is to serve, not be served (Mark 10:45). Jesus speaks with words supported by action when he says, “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27 NIV).
Start asking the question, “How can I serve this person?”
If you’d like to receive these devotionals regularly, you can sign-up at www.gracecreates.com/subscribe/. Jon Walker writes from www.gracecreates.com. He is a Zondervan author, and the former writer/editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-Line Devotionals. This devotional is copyrighted 2009 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.
