What does it really mean to serve? And how can we serve as Jesus served when he walked on the earth?
In the Bible, Matthew 20:25-28 reminds us that we must serve everyone like a servant…we must put the needs of others above our own. But, in 2019, this is not a popular position to be held because we currently live in a “dog eat dog world” so to speak. We live in a time where serving others has become less popular than serving ourselves.
However, being a servant is a very important attribute when working with others. It’s easy to get caught up in one’s own agenda and forget about putting the needs of others above our own. In Matthew 20, Jesus reminds us that we must serve one another. Ephesians 4:32 reminds us to be kind and loving to one another and later in Ephesians 5:21 we are told to submit to one another in reverence and respect of Christ.
Such an attitude not only applies with others we are working with, but with each and every soul we come in contact with. I say soul because we should all be praying to see each other as Christ sees us, not as the world would have us see one another. We should treat others with the respect they deserve and learn to be servants for Christ.
So Christian, what does service look like to you? Jesus doesn’t ask us to serve any differently than He served. He’s been here among all the different types of people. Paul explains in Philippians 2:5-11 that Jesus was the ultimate servant. We are to be obedient as Christ was obedient and be a light in this dark world. It seems like an impossible task, to serve as Christ served, but as we see in Matthew 20:25-28, Christ makes it clear that it is our attitudes that matter most. When we look at life through the eyes of Christ, we won’t miss those opportunities to serve. We only miss them because we take our focus off Christ and put it on ourselves. Only when we look beyond ourselves can we be the servants Jesus created us to be.
