Serving God and Man

Why do I serve / Why do I want to serve?

            You know it is interesting, I have never really thought about why I choose to serve others I just do.  For myself I believe God made me this way, long before I even acknowledged His existence or chose to follow Him I always had a desire to serve others.  A dear friend (who hopefully is reading this) says I have a heart the size of Texas, I don’t know about that but if I do it is because God made me this way. 

            What I have realized as I grow in my faith is serving others for God and His Kingdom’s Glory and purpose is different than just serving.  We as Christians are commanded to serve others in love. Our acts of service should ultimately all point to the gospel and God’s love for us.  We should be different in the way we serve.   This difference comes from our hearts, if we are saved by God then we must live each moment believing that.   If we are saved by God we should value that salvation and out of the overflow of our gratefulness to Him we should want to serve His children and share this precious gift with them.  Service at its best is worship of God, just as in Old Testament times service was about bringing sacrifices to God. 

Serving sacrificially and with humility is the difference and the example Christ gave us.  Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us, who are we to decide who gets sacrifice and service when what we sacrifice is so very little compared to what He took on for us. 

Phillipians 2 gives a  model of this sacrificial and humble servanthood. 

Christ’s Example of Humility

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

            I am writing all this about serving to challenge others and also to challenge myself to get out and serve more.  For me personally serving others is a joy and I have realized that I am not serving as much as I have in the past.  I still feel called to serve internationally short term and long term, BUT GOD (love that expression) is not calling me anywhere specific right now.  I will strive to be patient and serve Him wherever I am.  Please pray for guidance and wisdom in seeking out some service opportunities here and continue to pray for any upcoming international missions trips.  The trip to Honduras in January is not going to happen, I am open to what / where God wants me to do or be.  (Or at least I am trying to be, that is a little scary when you spell it out like that). 

            Thank you for your faithful prayers and God Bless all of You.

Alison