The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…
—Matthew 20:28
{CHAMBERS} “Paul’s idea of service was the same as our
Lord’s— “…ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). […]
Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others.
And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. […] the chief
motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord.
If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and
broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of
ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no
amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another. Paul’s
understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his
determination to serve others. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and
an insolent man…” (1 Timothy 1:13). […] Once we realize that Jesus has served
us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing
we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve
others for His sake.”
{ELGIN}
Ingratitude. When I am serving
the Lord and I encounter ungrateful people, the first temptation is to revile
them. How dare they? Don’t they know what I am sacrificing so I can
help them. Do you see the problem with
that line of thinking? Somehow, I have
become the source of their help, not the Lord, and it is me they are rejecting,
not the Lord, and I don’t like it. Why
should I help ungrateful people? What a
test of my heart and motivation.
Suddenly the situation changes from me helping others to God showing me
that my motive for helping has been subverted by my flesh. When we serve out of obedience, the important
thing to do is to serve where the Lord sends us and whoever the Lord brings to
us. (Luke 17:11-19) “Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along
the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men
who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a
loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go,
show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One
of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He
threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed?
Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this
foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.””
In this story, not only was there only one out of ten that
was grateful, but he was someone the Jews hated. Jesus focused on the one and not the
nine. That is our challenge the next
time we meet ingratitude, face to face. Focus
your mind on your mission and the One who sent you, not on those you are
serving. Serving ungrateful people is
inevitable. Show them Jesus by the way you serve and you will bring glory to
God.
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