Thank you God for the servants you are raising up that will be oaks of righteousness for your glory. Bless their spirit of correction, move them deeper into the joy of giving of themselves. May their eyes stay continually upon you. Amen
I want to discuss serving because of our moral obligation to love. To love God is the greatest commandment, and so we serve because to love God out of obedience is our greatest call.
Essentially, I want to displace the propagated idea that we should serve ourselves. This is not to say don’t take care of yourself, however we have a very prominent world view of me first and then the leftovers can all be yours. But consider tithe, it is your first ten percent that you give back to God. Not the remaining.
Similarly, I would like to propose that we give the first of our love, not the remaining at the end of the day.
Why don’t we give God our love firstly upon waking, firstly when we get a break at work, firstly when we sit down in the evenings? I’m not saying let’s make some religious scheme out of this. But consider your ever present friend the Holy Spirit more than you have.
To cater to the principle of love is to serve out of our moral obligation to love. Not out of pride. The principle of love being I love God and am called to love, therefore regardless of the turmoil of my emotions I will love you in actions. To love out of pride is to love according to whether or not you’re feeling good. If it serves you to love them then you’ll do it. But true love is when loving someone else is no longer about loving yourself.
Love is…
To love well we have to know what love is. And Love is…
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Cor. 13:4-7
So, I will love you with patience, I will love you with kind actions and words. I will not build myself up. I will not dishonor you. I will not do this for my own benefit. I will not be swayed by anger, especially that is driven by selfishness. I will not hold onto your wrongs. I will not delight when you fall but will rejoice in truth. I will protect you. I will trust you. I will hope in you. I will persevere with you.
Now that would be some marriage vows. But it’s not. Because this is the vow of your life. I took up a life to love when I took up a life to follow Christ.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
If I have made myself a servant…
1 Corinthians 9:19 “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more of them.”
I will serve you. For what is love if action does not follow it. Leaving behind mementos and memories like wildflowers in its wake. Action is evidence of a heart after God’s own heart.
Do what is right in God’s eyes. Stop rolling your eyes at your boss. Stop complaining and sighing. Keep your eyes on God and demand a higher standard not only of your actions but of your reaction to the world around you. I serve love because God is love, and I serve God. To cater to the principle of God is to serve God is all circumstances. Serving with grace, humility, a gentle and quiet spirit.
The most beautiful part about this is that it is not over your head. The Lord designed you for relationship with Him. The Lord made you for a relationship with love. To receive and give it. An eternal cycle. An exchange that is from heaven. This starts with receiving the love of Christ, and then we love, and if you don’t receive what would be fair or just, remember there is reward in heaven.
You are the church. So if you’re stuck on actions remember you are called to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons (Matthew 10:8). Give as freely as you have received.
The power of God that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside you. The call to bring heaven to earth rings above you every day. The plans and purposes God planned for you lives inside you, placed there at the beginning of time. The actions of love are not beyond you, for you need only ask and the Holy Spirit will place ideas. You need only seek to find God in the faces of those you serve.
If you’re scared, ask for boldness from the Holy Spirit.
Remember you are a son or daughter of Almighty God.
Loads of Love,
Coral Faith
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