When the Lord worked in me and transformed me, I was a young girl with no experience in life or church. When I heard expressions like “such a person went to such a country to serve the Lord”, I thought that only pastors or missionaries were the ones who served God, that this was only a job for a privileged few. And of course, that a call from God to serve him full time is only for some people.
I would like to tell you the truth about this, but let’s first see what the word means serve. It is about being at the service of someone, subject to a person for whatever reason, doing what he wants or has. Every true believer is a servant of God (Rom. 6:22), purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. We no longer belong to ourselves. We are not the owners of our life, but we have the best master and Lord in the world: God.
When the apostle Paul had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, one of the first things he asked him was, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). This reminds us that every disciple of Jesus is his servant. In the New Testament, we have some examples. I will mention just two as an illustration:
- Peter’s mother-in-law when the Lord healed her of her fever; she served him and his disciples (Mt. 8:15).
- A group of women who followed Jesus and his disciples as they went through the cities and villages preaching the gospel; they served him with their goods (Lk. 8:1-3).
Service to God flows from a heart grateful to Him for forgiving and saving us.
Service to God flows from a heart grateful to Him for forgiving and saving us. We want to serve God by serving others. To serve others, it takes a humble and loving heart. We must consider others as superior to ourselves:
“Do not do anything out of selfishness or vainglory, but with a humble attitude each of you consider the other as more important than himself, each not looking for his own interests, but rather the interests of others” Philippians 2 :3-4.
The interests of a serf
God calls us to a life of service, and a servant does not look out for his interests first, but for the needs of those around him. That is why there is no specific place of service, because our whole life has to be of service to God. We don’t have a servant outfit for certain times of the day, or for certain days of the week. The Christian servant is 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
To serve others, it takes a humble and loving heart. We must consider others as superior to ourselves
Sometimes we believe that the church is the place for Christian service, when we have a ministry or responsibility to serve others. This is true in one sense. In the church there must be an order and not all can or should preach from a pulpit, not all can or should be teachers of youth or children, not all are evangelists, etc. For a church to function, all members have to put the gifts they received from Him at the service of the Lord. God gives us gifts to serve others, not for our own benefit or enjoyment, but for the edification of his people . The Apostle Peter makes it clear:
“As each has received a special gift, use it by serving one another as good stewards of God’s manifold grace. He who speaks, let him speak according to the words of God; whoever serves, let him do it by the strength that God gives, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom glory and dominion belong forever and ever. Amen”, 1 Peter 4:10-11.
Therefore:
- We all have one or more gifts that we have received from God. Don’t make an excuse that you don’t know how to do anything; you have something to offer serving the church. If you’re not sure, ask your pastor or someone who knows you well.
- The gifts you received are not to show off and for others to say how well you serve or do any job. They are to minister to others, for the edification of the church.
- We are to serve and minister to others as good stewards, with a humble spirit. Don’t praise yourself for what you do. How sad it is to see some reciting and strutting about everything they do for the Lord! Beware of pride!
- The gifts that God gives us are gifts of his grace, we do not deserve them.
- If you have certain gifts, don’t think it’s because you are very smart or know how to minister well. The power to serve comes from God. By our own strength, it would be impossible. It is the power of God working and enabling us to serve.
- Everything we do to serve God and others is for the glory of God as the ultimate end. Not for your own glory or to get applause.
Service beyond the temple
At the same time, we need to understand that serving is a way of life. We not only serve in the church, but in all spheres of our life we must have a spirit of service.
So when you are changing your baby’s diaper, you are serving; when you are taking care of and being an ideal help for your husband, you are serving; When you take care of the children of a married couple so that they can go out for a walk or have dinner alone, you are serving; when you are at work and have to do unpleasant tasks, you are serving the Lord. We must roll up our sleeves and do the dirty work, or the work that nobody wants to do. We have to be willing to serve those who cannot reward us.
The holy God, creator of the universe, the king of kings, becomes a servant! For love of us and to save us
It has helped me a lot, when it comes to doing an unpleasant task, like cleaning bathrooms in the church —for example—, thinking that I am doing it for my Lord. When I think about it, my attitude changes completely. “Whatever you do, do it with your heart, as for the Lord and not for men” (Col. 3:23). Serving brings a personal satisfaction of knowing that we are doing what the Lord wants, and He sees every glass of cold water that you offer a child in his name.
I want to end with the best example, that of our Lord Jesus:
- The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Mt. 20:28).
- Remember how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. There we have a good example of service and humility, so that we would follow his example (John 13: 1-20).
- Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, made like men. He humbled himself and went to the cross. The holy God, creator of the universe, the king of kings, becomes a servant! Out of love for us and to save us (Phil. 2:5-8).
Therefore, if our Lord became a servant for us, will we do anything more if we become servants for Him?