FORWARD In Love - Thursday January 17

“…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:28


Paul and Jesus had the same idea about serving. It was their mission. Sometimes we focus so much on the options we have and the rights we have, that we do not see the spirit of our mission. All believers are called, as Jesus and Paul were, to be “doormats” for other people.
Paul’s idea of serving was, “I will spend myself to the last drop for you; you can affirm me or curse me, neither matters. As long as there is someone who does not know Christ, I am in debt to him, to serve him until he knows.” The motivation for Paul’s serving was not humanitarian or love for people, but love for God.
If we think our call to serve is primarily motivated out of our love for people, we will be crushed. We will quickly realize that people are often times ungrateful, dysfunctional and inconsistent in returning the love we gave them. If our call to serve is motivated by our love for God, how people treat us will be irrelevant to our call.
Paul realized that the secret to dealing with people is remembering how Jesus dealt with them. Before coming to Jesus, Paul admitted to being the chief sinner; so, no matter how people treated him, Paul realized they would never treat him worse than he had already treated Jesus. Yet Jesus had continued to serve Paul with love and faithfulness.
There is only one right motivation for serving people. It is because you love God. If you serve because you love God, you will become a more effective servant. You will stop expecting other people to meet the needs in you that only God can meet.
Be brave. Love and serve people because you love God.