Three Basic Ingredients of Servanthood
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13–14)
The Word of God lays a solid, biblical foundation for what it means to have a servant mentality. But let’s get some handles on what’s involved in pulling it off.
For starters, let me suggest three basic ingredients of servanthood: giving, forgiving, and forgetting. Two key passages come to mind:
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3–4 NASB 1995)
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. (Galatians 5:13 NASB)
Once you and I make up our minds to implement the truth of Philippians 2:3–4 (taking a special interest in others) and Galatians 5:13 (serving others in love), these three basics will begin to emerge.
Instead of always thinking about receiving, we’ll start looking for ways to give. Instead of holding grudges against those who offend us, we’ll be anxious to forgive. And instead of keeping a record of what we’ve done or who we’ve helped, we’ll take delight in forgetting the deed(s) and being virtually unnoticed. Our hunger for public recognition will diminish in significance.
Giving, forgiving, and forgetting . . . as a servant of Jesus Christ, which of these three do you need to apply most today?
Taken from Improving Your Serve by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1981 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.thomasnelson.com.
