SELFLESS SERVING

This being Veteran’s Day, what comes to my mind is selfless serving and the sacrifice many have made for our country and its freedoms that we still enjoy.  I thank God for our veterans and their families who have sacrificed much.

Jesus certainly made the ultimate sacrifice for us all.  By His sacrifice we have the opportunity to be free from eternal punishment for our wrongs, to be freed from the pain of our emotional wounds, and to be free to obey and trust Him with our lives.

The Apostle Paul highlights the significance of selfless serving.  In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul points out how others are promoting themselves as great apostles of God.  They come across with a superior attitude, as if they are closer to God, have more to offer than Paul, and claim their God-ordained status is the same as Paul’s.  Paul reveals their motives, that they are really all about serving themselves, not God.

Paul says, “I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things.   I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way” (2 Corinthians 11:5-6 NLT).  Paul explains that his motive is all about serving the Lord.  Instead of elevating himself he elevates Christ.  Instead of advancing himself he advances Christ.  And he does it all without feeling inferior to those who get all the notoriety for their super status.

Our society pushes us to try to become superstars.  But we must question our motives.  Why do we do what we do?  Why do we pursue what we pursue?  God wants us to promote the cross of Christ, not ourselves, and without feeling inferior to what we see and hear others doing.  Don’t buy in to what the world says is superior and what’s inferior.  They’ve got it backwards.  Instead buy in to what God says is superior and what’s inferior.  He says what’s superior is to serve sacrificially.  God will reward your serving.  And God’s rewards and compensation are far better than the world’s. 

Jesus said,  “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant … the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26, 28).