I was so excited to get to guest write for Tidden Tales, for the Love is... series. I found myself thinking of simple ways to show love. All of which are great, and important. However, as I came to what will be my last entry I felt a responsibility to take things a bit deeper. Love is is so many things, but ultimately love is serving others. As a follower of Jesus Christ, it is clear from His example that we should be serving others: But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve... (Matthew 20:26-28) This translates love into many languages. What better way to communicate love to family, friends, a complete stranger, than by serving them, expecting nothing in return. So, then the question is, What does this look like? Service looks different for different people.
For Christians, the New Testament is clear that as a believer that each of us has different spiritual gifts, but they are all given by the Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 12:1-7), which we receive the moment we accept the gift of Jesus Christ’s salvation. In verses 8-11 Paul specifically lists the various gifts. There are other references in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4. “God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well.” (Romans 12:6) What better way to use our abilities than to show love.
If you are not a follower of Christ, you aren’t off the hook. You still have talents and abilities that others around you can benefit from. As you can guess from my earlier post this month, I love food. I also love to share that food with others, especially when it can be a gift to them. I am part of a group within our squadron that makes meals for families who have just had babies. Another area I feel “gifted” in is teaching. For many years I volunteered as a teacher in my church’s children’s ministry. Today, I volunteer every week with our AWANA club.
If you don’t know where to start, look at yourself. What do you feel like you are qualified to do, but also love to do. Then take the next step and volunteer to serve others.
As a former children’s ministry director, I promise your churches children’s ministry is always looking for someone to hold a baby and change some diapers. Maybe kids aren’t “your thing.” Maybe you are more of a behind the scenes type of person. Then as a teacher I promise there is a teacher somewhere in your town, or a school looking for a volunteer to make copies, staple packets, or distribute flyers. You may even be able to look down the street and see that the single mom that lives on your block hasn’t been able to mow her lawn because she had to work the late shift the past few weeks. How amazing would it be if she came home to a kept lawn?
When I was writing this I looked up what the definition was for serve. There were quite a few, but my two favorites were “to render assistance; be of use; help,” and “to have definite use.” I love having a purpose and when I serve someone else I a definite use. The important thing is not what you do, it’s that you are doing something for someone else, to benefit someone by showing them love. In showing love the most important step is the first one. To take action, because love is serving.
If you are interested in learning about your spiritual gifts here are a couple resources I found that may help.
http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/
http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1355371/k.9501/Spiritual_Gifts.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment