Servanthood

 

“You were called to be free… serve one another in love.”

This verse (Galatians 5:13) says BE FREE (yay!), and then……. SERVE!

SERVE?! To be free???

To human nature, this is a bit of a contradiction. But THANKFULLY, we’re not confined to our own humanness.

Here’s some things God has showed me about true service. It’s:

• ·        Rooted in love
• ·        Has no criteria for who to serve, releasing us of the sin of judging
• ·        Is free from attachment and reliance on the results

·In the past, I’ve loved serving, whether it was in Guatemala, or around my community. But through this experience, God has shown me that throughout my life I’ve been choosing who I was going to serve and how. And these criteria usually included (but weren’t limited to): people who were lonely, low on monetary funds etc., and/or people who would probably appreciate my service. BUT by doing this I have been not only deciding for myself who was deserving of my service, but judging people by how I perceived their situations. This is unfair for: 

1. Those being judged (James 4:11-12) and 2. Those who didn’t meet my standards to serve.

What I have explained here is, to me, a certain level of service. A level that has limitations, confined in a container of the situations and people that I choose. And if it weren’t for God’s persistence and passion for my life, I would never have had the opportunity to move past this. God purposely said “Ok, I know you’ve done this ‘serving’, but I want to show you a whole new level of service”. So, what did He do? He told me to serve people who I never would have chosen to serve. It’s easy to look at people who appear to have it all together, with money and resources, and to justify being silent in acts of service. But God, proving His omniscience, knew that I needed to break down this barrier that stopped me from freely serving. And it has been HAAAAARD! But, without making this too long and boring for you, through many little deaths going beyond myself, God is teaching me how to TRULY serve. Also, we are ALL undeserving of God’s grace, yet He FREELY gives it to us. I’m glad God didn’t put conditions on His love.

And the second part is LETTING GO of the results. This is something that I will be forever working towards, but the work that God has begun in me regarding this has already made the world of a difference. Service for service. Not service for recognition. Or service for a “thank you”. Or service to even feel like you’ve made a difference. For me personally, I was doing service in order to be respected and appreciated. But instead, God calls us to service for the work that it does within us, to humble us, and lead us towards a life more like His.

<<I wanna be super clear on something. I am NOT trying to discourage anyone from going out and helping those in need of food, housing, money etc. Rather, that we should not be overlooking ANYONE, because we are all in need of love and a savior. Also, service should never be turned into a selfish means focused on what it can do for ourselves, for this is not the service that Jesus practiced.>>

Anyways, freedom to serve includes EVERYONE, whether I think that they are in need, deserving, or whether I like them or not. This verse in Galatians explains that serving in love is a part of freedom, the same love that drives out fear (1John 4:18).. Service rooted in love has no barriers, therefore by practicing this type of serving we are moving closer towards freedom in Christ. 

Who knew that freedom could be such a hard thing to grasp? It takes the destruction of SO many barriers within, and here in such a diverse area of the world, God knew that it would be the perfect place to do this. I encourage you to do the same, wherever you are in the world.

Peace and love. 

***If you want to learn about service, I 1,000 % recommend the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster. It has a bunch of different topics, and it’s the bomb. ***