3 Things That Jesus Says About Serving Others
“Serve God by doing common actions in a heavenly spirit…” – Charles Spurgeon
The majority of our lives are spent doing common actions – getting ready, driving to work, performing our job duties, eating, studying, cleaning, housekeeping. Yet, we are called to live a life that honors God and serves others. We are going to look at the How, When, and Why to examine what Jesus says about serving others.
How Do We Serve Others – With Our Unique Talents, Gifts, and Abilities
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. - 1 Peter 4:10
God has uniquely gifted each one of us with talents, gifts, and abilities to honor God by serving others. We have been distinctly woven together (Psalm 139:15) and are known by God individually (Psalm 139:1 | Luke 12:7). God surely has equipped us to serve others in the unique circumstances in which we live and is faithful to equip us to accomplish His work. If you are gifted in compassion – serve those in need of understanding. If you are gifted relationally, serve those in need of a friend. If you are gifted in business, gaming, art, or photography, serve others with those skills and honor God through sharing the Gospel and how we conduct our craft.
God uses our past, our knowledge and skillset, and our circumstances to reach people in our community. As the Apostle Peter says above, we are stewarding the grace of God as we serve others with the gifts we have received from Him. We can start where we are, with what we have, and do what we can to serve those in our community because we know God has equipped us individually and intentionally for Kingdom work.
When Do We Serve Others – Where We Are
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. - 1 John 3:18
The thought of serving others can be daunting – when can I squeeze that into my already busy schedule? Do I need to go across the world to serve those in need?
One encouragement for me is to start where I am, with what I have, and do what I can. Just as Acts 1:8 commands the disciples to be witnesses where they are and to expand to the entire world – Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth – we can begin today closest to home. We can start with our spouse, kids, friends, and family and intentionally seek ways to serve them. There is no complex strategy or initiative necessary to do this, and no extraordinary effort. We can start there and from an overflow of our relationship with Jesus, we can expand outward.
This applies to us as a church as well. In our outpost for His Kingdom in Alpharetta, we can’t just worship the Lord in word in an hour on a Sunday morning – the Church is not a building, but a people. What happens on a Sunday morning should encourage us to go out from those doors and serve others in the truth of the Word and by putting into practice what we hear and learn. Church and ministry happen out there, not just in the doors we get to call home.
Chris closes Sundays by saying “Be Sent!” – we are sent to reach our neighbors in the houses and apartments within walking distance of our church, within walking distance of where we live to Greater Atlanta, Georgia, the US, and the world.
Why Do We Serve Others – To Honor God
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets - Matthew 22:37–40
To close, we need to answer the why – why do we serve others? We serve others to glorify God and to enjoy Him. Our first aim is to love God with all we have – this is first and foremost. But Jesus does not stop there when answering the religious leaders trying to trip him up – He emphasizes the culmination of the law and the prophets. That we should glorify God by loving people as He so loved us. He laid down His life and paid for our sins, so we could have life with the Father. We glorify God and His design for us when we love others as ourselves.