Biblical Servant Hood Part 2 -Serving Christ in Love

 "I belong to Jesus. He must have the right to use me without consulting me." -Mother Teresa

Well, that about sums it up doesn't it?  We must be willing to serve when and where Jesus asks us to, He doesn't need to ask us what is on our agenda for the day, or what we'd rather do.  He already knows our strengths and our weaknesses, He knows what we can and can not handle, but do we?

Hebrews 12:28 Let us therefore, receiving a kingdom that is firm and stable and cannot be shaken, offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship, with modesty and pious care and godly fear and awe

Rom 12:9-13 Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. Love one another warmly as brothers in Christ, and be eager to show respect for one another. Work hard, and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. Share your belongings with your needy brothers, and open your homes to strangers.

We should serve out of a love for Christ.  God wants lovers who serve from a heart that overflows, not out of resentful obligation or fear that He will strike us down if we don’t obey.  We must act out of love not religion.  It is not by acts that we are saved, but only by grace.  Nothing we do will grow His love for us anymore than what He has already offered.  Serving should strictly come from a desire to please God. 

Proverbs 15:17   ¹⁷Better is a dish of vegetables where love is
                        Than a fattened ox served with hatred.

This may seem like a strange verse to pair with serving, but everything comes down to intentions.  God doesn’t want us to serve out of a fearful obligation, or out of a guilty conscience, He wants us to serve out of a desire and passion to treat the others the way he treats us.  “Lovers” will out serve “doers” every time.  I'd much rather serve with "ordinary" people who love, then a "fascinating" person with a horrible attitude.

Last Sunday  my Pastor said "some of the most miserable people he knew were the ones who felt guilty about not giving, but resentful when they did."  This can be the same way with serving.  If you are feeling resentful about something you’ve been asked to do, its better to not do it at all.  What kind of service will that bring, will that really bless anyone?  Most likely not, you are a warm body filling a need out of obligation.  That isn't servant hood.

There is a man at my church named Dennis.  Dennis is the epetemy of loving service.  He goes where they tell him, and always with a smile.  It’s far more than I can say for myself.  If I’m unhappy with an arrangement, I will, unfortunately, let it show.  If I didn’t want to do it, or if God hasn’t given me the okay, or the purpose for it, then I shouldn’t do it out of the flesh or out of guilt.  Now, this isn’t an excuse to never serve our church body.  It would be easy to say “That’s not my gift”, or “God hasn’t called me there.”  We can over use those excuses.

Galatians 5:13-14  ¹³For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  ¹⁴For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."