Monday, July 16, 2012

Serving Others


Matthew 20:28 says the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Another translation would be: the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

As we look at this verse along with verses 26-27, you find that the focus is not about reaching the top and exert your power and/or authority, but instead to give your life in the service of others, especially for the spiritual good of all people. As you can see, Jesus is advocating the phrase, “it’s not about us!” It’s about others.

Now, let’s look at serving others. Sometimes we want to serve others expecting something in return, or compensation, or to be looked upon as “all that”). That should not be part of our repertoire. The question might be asked, “How do we serve others if Jesus is advocating this?” That’s a legitimate question. And this is what we’re going to talk about for the remainder of this post.

If we’re in Christ and all about doing His will, then His Spirit should be manifested in us. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 talks about gifts that are a manifestation of the Holy Spirit through individual believers: Word of Wisdom (an utterance from the Holy Spirit applying God’s Word or wisdom to a specific situation), Word of Knowledge (an utterance from the Holy Spirit revealing knowledge about people, circumstances, or Biblical truth), Faith (supernatural faith imparted by the Holy Spirit, enabling a Christian to believe God for the miraculous), Healing (restoring someone to physical health by divinely supernatural means), Miracles (divine supernatural power to alter the course of nature, including casting out demons), Prophecy (a special temporary ability to bring a word, warning, exhortation, or revelation from God under the impulse of the Holy Spirit), Discerning of Spirits (special ability to judge whether prophecies and utterances are from the Holy Spirit), Speaking in Tongues (expressing oneself at the level of one’s spirit under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit in a language he or she has not learned and does not know) and Interpretation of Tongues (special ability to interpret what is spoken in tongues – personally: I haven’t met too many people with this gift and sure would love to, because I believe this is needed in the body of Christ). Now, some will have more than one and some will only have one. There’s nothing wrong with that; just don’t sit on that gift. We can express the gifts given to us in multiple ways in the service of others, some can express it behind a pulpit, through the creative arts, and the list can go on. I have concerns when it comes to gifts: 1-when we belittle others when they don’t have the gift that we have, 2-copying what another person does because of the gift that’s in them (not really using your gift) and 3-using a true gift with the wrong motive (not serving others, but to itch ears for the sake of $).

Serving others is for the glory of God, not for our sole benefit. Yes, we will benefit whether on earth or in life eternal, but it’s all about Him and His glory!

Additional scriptures to view if you want to: John 13:34; 1 Corinthians 13; Colossians 3:14; 1 John 3:14 and 4:8.

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