Growth Points: Remember to Serve

A blessing in disguise.

“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.”
-Galatians 5:13

After last week’s post, I knew it was time to expand on one of the points I covered. I hope you know by now that I love serving. I also hope you’ve found a way to get involved in your church or community, because it makes a giant impact.

But why should we serve? What’s the point? When (if ever) should we stop serving? And when we serve, how do we do it with a Christ-like mindset? Let’s find out.

Today’s growth point is…

Looking back at my journal from four years ago, I found this entry:

“I also really think I should get involved in helping at the 9AM service [church]…cuz I feel like it’s a great way to volunteer.”

Fast forward, and I’m still serving in the same area. I have no regrets. Volunteering and helping others is such a blessing.

In His Words…

In Mark 10:45 Jesus says,

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

First and foremost, we should serve because Jesus served. I think that alone is a good enough reason. To emulate Christ, I need to act like Christ. And what did Jesus do day in and day out? He healed people, met their needs, taught others, and served them.

I believe this is one of the keys to a deepening relationship with God. I love reading the Bible, praying, worshipping, and blessing the church – don’t get me wrong. But it’s when I model the actions and attitude of Jesus that I draw ever closer to Him. That’s why I’ve spent the last two summers at camp.

Here’s the awesome part: serving doesn’t only have spiritual benefits. This is what an article by the National Library of Medicine said about serving:

“Research has shown that altruistic behavior increases the helper’s happiness and promotes positive emotions. This effect has been demonstrated in a variety of altruistic behaviors, including volunteering, donating blood, giving to charity, spending money on others, and making small gestures, such as offering coffee, being kind, or making someone smile.”

Now let’s move on to the heart of serving.

Room to Grow.

Throughout this summer, some of the camp Summer Team would comment on how “camp isn’t a real job”. This bothered me.

While reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink in August, I came across a chapter on the power of association. Gladwell explained that we unknowingly link words in our subconscious. I saw that at camp. Instead of linking job with responsibility, people linked job with money. And since camp wasn’t about the money (aside from a small honorarium, you don’t get paid), people stopped treating it as a job.

But I believe camp is just as much a job as working anywhere else because of the responsibility it entails. Perhaps this is me being picky over word choice, but I don’t see it that way. When we link job with money and serving with Jesus stuff, we miss out on taking either seriously.

The reason I could be effective and productive in my work at camp was because I linked job with responsibility and serving with responsibility. By doing this, I could take serving at camp as seriously as a “real” job.

To genuinely serve, we must take it seriously. I frequently trip up and think serving is just about me getting blessed. It’s not. When I remember that serving is just like a job (where I’m responsible to the manager), I can redirect my focus. Any time I think of quitting a serving role, I ask myself, Does God want you to quit, or do you just want to quit? Even if I may not be seeing any fruit or benefits, God’s Kingdom is.

When it comes to either serving or a paid job, you generally report to a boss/manager/leader/government. You aren’t working to bring yourself glory; you do what your leader wants and you work to grow the company.

When you swap leader with God and company with Kingdom, you find the definition of serving. You aren’t working to bring yourself glory; you do what your God wants and you work to grow the Kingdom. So on the days when I don’t feel like it, or when I’m tired, or when I want to give up, I remind myself that serving is a job. It’s a job for the Kingdom. If I’m not going to walk out of my cubicle or throw in the towel while working for the world, shouldn’t I do the same while working for God?

The heart of serving is treating it with the respect and responsibility God deserves.

How to Serve 101.

Once we’ve cultivated a heart for serving, we can live it out in the way we help others. Since I don’t have time to tackle every method for serving, let me cover the two primary categories.

A. Using Your Talents

“In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.”
-Romans 12:6a

Jesus had many gifts. He was a speaker, healer, saviour, redeemer, and world-changer. We may not have those talents, but we all have some talents. Personally, I seem to be good with technology and multimedia. These gifts have led to helping seniors with computer issues, filming interviews for a local church, photographing camp events, etc. It’s a beautiful blessing from God.

To use your talents for the Kingdom, first ask yourself what you’re good at. From there (assuming you can use this skill to help others), look for a way to serve. I’m not saying you have to volunteer in a church, but I’d encourage it. I’ve found ways to use my media-related gifts at church, but much of what I’ve done has also been outside the church.

Remember, it’s not about where you serve or how often you serve; it’s about how you serve. Care to join me in modelling Christ-centered serving?

B. Using Your Time

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
-Colossians 3:17

When Jesus wasn’t serving with His talents, He was serving with His time. I’d almost say this is the more important of the two, because Jesus spent far more time serving than He spent healing. Whenever He ate at someone’s house, spoke to people, or invested in growing the Disciples’ faith, He was utilizing His time.

Even if you say you have no gifts (which I doubt is true), we all have time. It’s because the devil knows the power of using time for Christ that he’s trying to steal it. He knows that by squeezing the time out of our lives, we can’t serve in either category B or category A.

Maybe I’m not the most gifted when it comes to kids, but I have the time to serve with kids. Maybe you aren’t the best at XYZ, but maybe you have more time to serve in area XYZ. You’ll frequently find that it isn’t the most talented people who are serving God’s Kingdom; it’s those who are willing to commit the most time.

In Summary.

More than being about the action, serving is about the heart behind the action. Not only does serving make us happier and promote positive emotions, but Scripture calls us to it. As such, we shouldn’t take this lightly. Once I started to approach serving seriously, my focus and passion skyrocketed. Whether you serve with your time, talents, or a mix of both, you’re bringing glory to God.

In a materialistic and self-focused world, Christians can stand out by their selfless service. We serve others for God’s glory, not to appear righteous or draw social media likes. God has given us gifts to help and bless others, for His glory. All that remains is prayerfully asking God where He wants us to serve. It will cost you in this life, but it will more than reward you in the life to come.

As Philippians 3:8 says,

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”