|
The Determination to Serve
|
||
|
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve . . . —Matthew 20:28 |
||
| Jesus also
said, "Yet I am among you as the One who serves" (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea
of service was the same as our Lord’s— ". . . ourselves your bondservants
for Jesus’ sake" ( 2
Corinthians 4:5 ). We somehow have the idea
that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above
other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a "doormat"
for others— called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior.
Paul said, "I know how to be abased . . ." (Philippians
4:12 ). Paul’s idea of service was to pour
his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or
blame made no difference. As long as there was one human being who did not
know Jesus, Paul felt a debt of service to that person until he did come to
know Him. But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for
others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity,
we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be
confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are
motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to
hinder us from serving one another. Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. "I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man . . ." ( 1 Timothy 1:13 ). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake. |