In my last entry, I talked about serving God through serving others. In Rick Warren’s book “A Purpose Drive Life,” He talks about characteristics of a servant. In order to serve others and live our lives for Christ, we have to have a servant attitude.
A real servant:
1) Makes themselves available to serve
If you only serve when it is convenient to you, then you are not a true servant. We need to make ourselves more available and quit filling our schedule with irrelevant things. Can God mess up your plans without you becoming resentful? This is something I struggle with, as I am a big planner. I like to have an outline for pretty much everyday of my life. When something throws my schedule off I tend to get anxious or overwhelmed. In my mind 24 hours in a day isn’t enough. But when I stop to think about how much time is wasted watching TV, surfing the internet, worrying, planning, shopping, or over committing, I realize too much of my day is given to meaningless activities. I have gotten better about this, as it has been a constant prayer.
A few months ago, I asked the Lord to eliminate some things from my schedule and stop stressing over time. The Lord has been so gracious and completely changed my day-to-day life. He actually sent me to New York City, funny that New York is one of the “busiest” places in the world, but I have been able to spend quite a bit of time alone. However, I am still working on lowering my stress level. I have nothing to stress about, when I give it to Him things automatically seem to slow down.
But Satan really knows my weakness, just the other day I found myself walking in my apartment at 10:30pm thinking where did the day go? There was so much I was suppose to do today….OMG! And reading my last blog entry this morning made me realize, I have gotten no where on my attempts to get plugged into serving. I cannot use the Holiday’s as an excuse, but I have not even submitted an entry in over a week! Why is it so hard for us to just sit and be still? Why are we always on the go? If we would just be calm for a little bit, we would see so many opportunities to serve.
2) Pays attention to needs
Galatians 6:10- Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Proverbs 3:28- Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.
As a Christian, we are instructed to put others before ourselves. Once we have toned down our schedule and let go of that stress we have been holding on to, we will be able to recognize the needs of others. Many times we hold on to something so minor and miss something MAJOR that our friend is dealing with. I wonder how my life would be different if every time I started to worry or stress about my own problem, I decided to call a friend and ask how they are doing? If I wasn’t always so consumed with my own matters, maybe I would realize how much God has blessed me and that I should be using my energy encouraging a friend rather than beating myself up for something small.
*This week I am going to try this. Every time a negative thought/worry pops in my head, I am going to call a friend and ask how I can be praying for them. God knows my fears and concerns, If I have given those to Him, there is nothing more I can do but trust that He will work it out.
3) Does their best with what they have
Some churches/ organizations put “excellence” on a pedestal, which makes the “average” person hesitant to get involved. But the truth is, we do almost everything poorly the first go around, that’s how we learn!
This should be recognized in all our activities, we shouldn’t beat ourselves up when we make mistakes initially. God did not make us to be perfect! He calls us to do our best and many times our best is not “perfect.”
I have been struggling with this issue this week. I recently started a new job in NY and this week I have felt like a failure. I was thrown into a very busy season (the holidays) and with the limited time to get everything ready, I felt pressure to get the job done. Because I am new and trying to learn everything, there were some mistakes made. One of my biggest struggles is paying attention to detail when under a time crunch (or under pressure). I pride myself on reliability. If I promise to have something done, or if I am asked to do something by a specific time, It will be done. I do not like it when things are late or incomplete. Thus, I like to start things early so I will have enough time to do it all and not feel stretched for time. But in the real world this is not the case, so often we are battling the clock. I need to recognize that although I may complete an assignment, it is not complete if there are mistakes. Providing something with errors, is the same as turning it in incomplete! As I learn and gain more experience, I will be able to do things more quickly and correctly. I need to stop giving myself a hard time and learn to slow down. I do not have to be perfect right now and I should not be expected to know everything. “One day at a time…. Rome was not built in a day!”
4) Does every task with equal dedication
Colossians 3:23- Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
The size of the task shouldn’t matter. You will never reach a point in life where you are too important to help others.
Galatians 6:3- If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
Small tasks reveal a BIG heart! “The race to be a leader is crowded, but the field is wide open for those willing to be servants.” ~Rick Warren
5) Faithful to their ministry
What is faithful? The dictionary states that it is:
a. strict or thorough in the performance of duty: a faithful worker.
c. reliable, trusted, or believed.
In this day and age, commitments are so easily broken. So often we find ourselves improvising because someone bailed. I often wonder if this lack of commitment began with the increase of technology? Think about it, if I committed to having lunch with a friend today, but then a better offer comes my way, all I have to do is text that friend: “hey something came up, rain check?” I just broke a commitment in a matter of seconds! What if I didn’t have a cell phone or email? How would I tell my friend I wanted a rain check? Well I guess I would just be a no show? So I then broke my word and that friend would probably never trust me to meet them again. I think this is why our word means so little these days, because we can take it back without any hesitation or repercussions. Today it would be no big deal to reschedule a lunch, but before technology it was a bit trickier… You were required to stick to the plan!
We need to commit to our promises and stop flaking! I am speaking to myself on this one too. I have become very comfortable in “rescheduling” or changing the plan, but I want to be someone others can count on!
6. Maintains a low profile
6. Maintains a low profile
Matthew 6: 1- “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
Ok, I think this may be what I struggle with most! So God wants me to joyfully serve others and expect NOTHING (not even appreciation) in return! Yup, that’s correct! I am not a true servant if I am expecting to be praised for my good deeds.
Galatians 1:10- Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
I should serve others because I want to serve the Lord. But if I am serving others to please men, then I am no servant of the Lord! I need to be content with quietly serving in the shadows. Even if no one recognizes me, Christ knows my heart and He recognizes my service.
“Notoriety means nothing to real servants because they know the difference between prominence and significance. The most significant service is often the service that is unseen.” ~ Rick Warren
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