Serving was never meant for self-gain, but for the glory of Christ and the giving up of self. Through observation I have realized that the most amazing servants God has placed on this earth have served with John 3:30 in mind. They don’t serve for money, for attention or for no reason. The purpose of why they serve is Jesus! They want to see His Kingdom built, not their “kingdom”. Most people love the lights and want to be seen, but another observation is that true servants are the real daily warriors. If this hits you like it has hit me then we might just witness a large chain reaction. I have been the opposite of these things, but God has been teaching me through people and circumstances what a true servant looks like.
Something that I strive after is the quality of joy in serving. All to often people burn out from serving. It is because they lost the true joy in serving and also, they only did it for self-gain. Serving always starts with the Lord. If we choose to something or someone above the Lord, we will find ourselves burnt out. Serving will always be built on sacrificially giving up of self and choosing to live a life where each day is a battle. That is why I called true servants, real warriors. Each day they wake up to a new day, where people will walk all over them. Also, they will likely live a life of going unnoticed. This is why there is beginning to be less and less true servants. Many, as is human nature, aren’t willing to give up of self completely for the Lord. Until we, yes all of us including me, decide to let self go and give all control over to Christ, more and more true servants will vanish with a legacy that should be told but won’t.
All of these things have been convicting in my life as I so desirably want to be a true servant of Christ. I can say that I have started all my areas of serving with the sole intention of self-gain. It didn’t take me very long to ask myself why? Probably the greatest thing I have learned so far, and this also answers why, is that joy is found in self-sacrifice. I can’t tell you how many times I had to give up of self to go somewhere and it was in those moments that joy luminated. I don’t know about you all, but I am ready to leave the pain of serving for self-gain. I want to strive to live fully for Jesus and choose to serve fervently, even if people don’t understand.