Self and Service
What could we do for God if we were not at all concerned about our own
self? In the past few weeks, this question has come to me many times as
the Lord has been taking me through a refining period in my life.
A close friend and sister in Christ encouraged me with the following advice: "please make it a moment-by-moment decision to forget about yourself in all things. Don't even spend a second's energy thinking about what will become of you or how you are affected by anything. Concentrate all of your energies on doing whatever you are able to 1) call other's attention to God and encourage them to think about and reflect on Him and 2) aid the pastors in reaching whatever goals they have for our church." Wow! If we are not spending any time thinking about ourselves, we are FREE to follow God's will. We don't have to concern ourselves with the cares of this world.
Even in service, we often rely on ourselves and our own strength. However, inJohn 5:30, Christ said, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." Christ's strength was from God. He sought only to do God's will, not His own.
John 17:5 - And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Christ's desire was to glorify God through His life. What better desire can we have?
1 Corinthians 4:2-4 - Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
Paul does not allow what men say of him or how they judge them to affect him. He is only concerned about what His God thinks of Him. Later in this chapter, he tells all the things that have happened and are happening to him. (1 Corinthians 4:10-13) In all this, he is not concerned about himself, but about the ministry.
And, finally, the ultimate sacrifice found in 1 Peter 2:24 - Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Closely tied with this ultimate sacrifice is Philippians 2 where Christ gives us the ultimate example of servanthood.
As we have mentioned earlier, we are to glorify God in everything. In light of that command, what does it mean to be a servant?
Philippians 2:1-8 If [there be] therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, [being] of one accord, of one mind. [Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Being a servant means serving others as Christ did. We need to have His mind which we saw before was fully set on doing God's will. He was obedient even unto death.
How do we have the power to serve Christ and others, denying self?
Romans 6:6 - Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Through His death and resurrection, we can conquer self. Our power, our being, all that we are comes from God. Isaiah 49 is an amazing chapter which talks about God's will for Israel and His power. God was the one that had given talents and strength. He was Israel's sole judge and should also be our sole judge. (Other's may still judge you, but His is the only one whose judgement matters.) He created us with a certain purpose in mind and will grant us the power to fulfill this purpose. (See alsoPsalms 139:14-16) The freeing part of this is that God only asks us to do His will. He is not asking us to make the results happen or judging us on the results. Even when everything looked bleak and seemed to be going wrong, God was being glorified.
We have no power in ourselves. Our power comes solely from God. When we truly seek His face and will and then submit to it, He can and will be glorified even if it does not follow the way we thought.Psalms 37:4 As we delight in Him, His desires will become our desires.
Praise Him!
Qualities of a Servant
Faithfulness -Matthew 24:46 - God will bless a servant who is faithfully serving.Matthew 25:23 - We should long to hear these words from our Father - Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Consistent, Continuous Service -Luke 17:7-10 - A servant is continuously serving and not thinking of himself. This service is reasonable or accepted, not something special.Romans 12:1-2 says that giving our lives as a sacrifice to God is our "reasonable service." Giving our very lives to Him in service is simply reasonable. Wow!
A close friend and sister in Christ encouraged me with the following advice: "please make it a moment-by-moment decision to forget about yourself in all things. Don't even spend a second's energy thinking about what will become of you or how you are affected by anything. Concentrate all of your energies on doing whatever you are able to 1) call other's attention to God and encourage them to think about and reflect on Him and 2) aid the pastors in reaching whatever goals they have for our church." Wow! If we are not spending any time thinking about ourselves, we are FREE to follow God's will. We don't have to concern ourselves with the cares of this world.
- He will provide for our needs. People cannot. (Philippians 4:19; Psalms 20:7)
- He will show us what we need to do each day to serve Him.
- He instructed us to ask for His help daily and tells us that He will give us wisdom. (Matthew 6:9-13; James 1:5)
- He is all-sufficient - all we need! (Psalm 20:&;)
What does He ask us to do?
Micah
6:8 - He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what
doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy
God?
- To do justly - do what is right.
- To love mercy - show mercy to those around us.
- To walk humbly with thy God - realize our position in God.
Even in service, we often rely on ourselves and our own strength. However, inJohn 5:30, Christ said, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." Christ's strength was from God. He sought only to do God's will, not His own.
John 17:5 - And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Christ's desire was to glorify God through His life. What better desire can we have?
1 Corinthians 4:2-4 - Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
Paul does not allow what men say of him or how they judge them to affect him. He is only concerned about what His God thinks of Him. Later in this chapter, he tells all the things that have happened and are happening to him. (1 Corinthians 4:10-13) In all this, he is not concerned about himself, but about the ministry.
And, finally, the ultimate sacrifice found in 1 Peter 2:24 - Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Closely tied with this ultimate sacrifice is Philippians 2 where Christ gives us the ultimate example of servanthood.
As we have mentioned earlier, we are to glorify God in everything. In light of that command, what does it mean to be a servant?
Philippians 2:1-8 If [there be] therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, [being] of one accord, of one mind. [Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Being a servant means serving others as Christ did. We need to have His mind which we saw before was fully set on doing God's will. He was obedient even unto death.
How do we have the power to serve Christ and others, denying self?
Romans 6:6 - Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Through His death and resurrection, we can conquer self. Our power, our being, all that we are comes from God. Isaiah 49 is an amazing chapter which talks about God's will for Israel and His power. God was the one that had given talents and strength. He was Israel's sole judge and should also be our sole judge. (Other's may still judge you, but His is the only one whose judgement matters.) He created us with a certain purpose in mind and will grant us the power to fulfill this purpose. (See alsoPsalms 139:14-16) The freeing part of this is that God only asks us to do His will. He is not asking us to make the results happen or judging us on the results. Even when everything looked bleak and seemed to be going wrong, God was being glorified.
We have no power in ourselves. Our power comes solely from God. When we truly seek His face and will and then submit to it, He can and will be glorified even if it does not follow the way we thought.Psalms 37:4 As we delight in Him, His desires will become our desires.
Praise Him!
Qualities of a Servant
Faithfulness -Matthew 24:46 - God will bless a servant who is faithfully serving.Matthew 25:23 - We should long to hear these words from our Father - Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Consistent, Continuous Service -Luke 17:7-10 - A servant is continuously serving and not thinking of himself. This service is reasonable or accepted, not something special.Romans 12:1-2 says that giving our lives as a sacrifice to God is our "reasonable service." Giving our very lives to Him in service is simply reasonable. Wow!
- Follower of Christ -John
12:26 - If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am,
there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will [my]
Father honour.
If we are to serve Christ, we must follow Him. We should not serve men (as in give our allegiance to them). (1 Corinthians 7:23; Galatians 1:10) Our service to Christ will allow us to serve others as unto Christ, but not by giving our allegiance and trust to them. We serve them as we serve Christ or on behalf of Christ. (Ephesians 6:5-7; Galatians 5:13; Colossians 3:22-24)
- Humility -Acts
20:19 - Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with
many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait
of the Jews:
Paul states that he served God with humility of mind. To be a servant, we must not think highly of ourselves. Too often, we get caught in the trap of thinking that WE know the best way to serve God which makes us focus on ourselves. To truly serve, we have to remember to focus on our master instead of on our own ideas. - Passionate in spirit -Romans 1:9; Romans 12:11 - We must serve God in spirit, fervently.
- Obedient -Romans 6:16; Colossians 3:22 - We are servants of the one whom we obey. If we choose to obey God, we must also obey our authority here. The only exception is when their directive would disobey God's law.Acts 5:29
- Christ-like -2 Timothy 2:22-26 "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all [men], apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And [that] they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
- Reliant on Christ - We can do nothing apart from Christ, from God.Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 12:28-29
- Filled with Praise -Psalms 113:1; Revelation 19:5 (See a study on joy.)
