The gift of serving was the focus of this week’s Everyday Jesus podcast. If you missed that episode, you can catch up by clicking below:
When discussing this subject, I was reminded that for some people, it’s very difficult to serve. Even though Jesus encourages us that true leadership is having a servant’s heart, many of us struggle with this. So what do you do if you don’t have the gift of serving? First you pray.
Pray that God will give you a servant’s heart. Don’t just expect it to happen by osmosis. Don’t expect it to happen by reading more blogs on serving. Praying is the first way to open yourself up for service. If you don’t like serving, your issue is primarily a heart issue. You need God to fix your heart.
“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24
The second thing you need to do is to look for opportunities. I believe that sometimes we simply miss opportunities for service, because we aren’t looking for them. We aren’t open to them. We are closed up, focusing on ourselves and sometimes it’s hard to see what’s right in front of us. Look for opportunities.
The last thing you should do is actually schedule time for serving. We make time for whatever is important to us. Whatever our priorities may be, we make time for those things. What are your priorities? If you look at your list of priorities and you see that serving is found no where on your list, then you need to reevaluate. Your priorities are out of whack.
Schedule time for serving. Be intentional about it. If you hear of someone who has a need, get with them right then and there and find a time to help them. You can’t wait to be invited. You can’t wait for someone to drag you into service. Can that happen? Sure, but that’s not the right heart. You need to invite yourself into service. Spend time serving others, regardless of your gifting. I can guarantee that as you do this, you will discover what it means to truly have a servant’s heart.
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
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