Encouraging - Service

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Meaningful, effective service is seldom easy. But if we want a fresh start in our spiritual walks, we must serve. Serving is the primary method God uses to form the character of Jesus in us. When we serve, our lives are being morphed into the likeness of our Lord. We are never more like Jesus than when we serve. Service is the main ingredient in the recipe for greatness and success. It’s also the antidote for emptiness.

Doug Fields, Fresh Start: God's Invitation to a Great Life (Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN: 2009), 39.

Encouraging - Service

By the power of the Holy Spirit we must reject self-righteous service as a sinful motivation, and serve “in humility,” considering “others better” than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

Can you serve your boss and others at work, helping them to succeed and be happy, even when they are promoted and you are overlooked? Can you work to make others look good without envy filling your heart? Can you minister to the needs of those whom God exalts and men honor when you yourself are neglected? Can you pray for the ministry of others to prosper when it would cast yours in the shadows?

In the Discipline of service, the issue is not always how well you serve, for even the world serves well when it leads to profit. But the Christian serves with humility because it leads to Christlikeness.

Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO: 1991), 122.