Service Before Self - A Core Value

My Utmost For His Highest

…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ… —2 Corinthians 10:5

“This is another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, “…I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ….” So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— “the Son can do nothing of Himself…” (John 5:19). […]  true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. […] We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to “be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind….” (Romans 12:2).” CHAMBERS

We think and write about the need to turn away from sin and turning toward God.  That is certainly true.  But there is something else that creep into our lives that is deceptively dangerous.  Doing good things that are not God empowered.  They are about what we like, what we want, what we have conceived.  When Jesus talked with the rich young ruler, the young man seemed certain that he was doing everything right. He was doing good things, but he lacked the most important thing, God was not first in his life, in this case, money was.  It may not be money for you, it might be control. Or something else.  It is always lurking in the shadows.  It supplants devotion to doing God’s will with doing your own.  It seems right.  It seems good.  But there is something lacking … devotion to and trust in God.  Being a servant has such a negative connotation in our culture.  But that is what we are .. we serve the Lord and we serve each other … before ourselves.  But self doesn’t like that and wants to be first.  And Jesus said “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (Luke 17:10)  Think about it.  ELGIN

“I Will Serve You”

“I will serve You because I love You, You have given life to me

I was nothing before You found me You have given life to me

Heartaches, broken pieces Ruined lives are why You died on Calvary

Your touch was what I longed for  You have given life to me”

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)