Thursday, March 10, 2022
Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for man. Matthew 20:26–28
Fill It and Spill It
We live in a “me-first” culture that encourages us to think of ourselves first and others…well, rarely. We’re told to focus on our self-image, to be involved in self-actualization and to be self-reliant. But, if we just get our cups filled and keep it all to ourselves, we will never be blessed. We will be hoarders of God’s love and light. God calls us to give away His love and blessing to others. We will never really know true blessing until we give it away.
You Can’t Give Empty Away
You can’t give away something that you don’t have. If you are running on empty and need to be replenished yourself, chances are that you won’t have much to offer anyone else. In fact, you can get to the point of even being a detriment to others when you are bone dry and depleted. It is true that you cannot pour from an empty cup, but there have been times I have felt so empty and yet found myself focused on and serving others and my cup began to fill up. We can be filled by serving others.
When we try to fill ourselves up with all the world offers, we eventually will be left feeling dissatisfied. Alone, wealth and influence will not change the world and they will cease to fulfill our hearts after time. So much time is spent chasing our careers, money, and hobbies and in the end, we still feel the same or worse. That valuable time could be used to do things for other people and really make a difference in the world and in our hearts. We are the church and our purpose from the beginning of time has been to build God’s kingdom. We were made to complement each other with our different gifts and talents. Serving others helps us to find what we are passionate about. It helps us find our spiritual gifts and our strengths and builds self- confidence. Together we are all the building blocks of His kingdom.
Peace and fulfillment can be our experience from serving others because we know that we are doing the right thing. We are being obedient to Christ and His commands when we serve and sharing God’s love and grace that we have experienced and passing it on to others who need it.
Self-Interest can keep you from serving like Jesus
Serving others helps take the focus off ourselves. Sometimes we just need to stop wallowing in our own self-pity and focus on something outward. This helps us to begin to see others as Jesus does.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45 NLT
