Philippians 2:3-8 – “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus came to suffer and die.  It was God’s pleasure that He would come in the form of a man, and ransom a people out of darkness to Himself through His blood on the cross.  Those of us who have believed on Christ, have Him with us, in us, in the form of the Holy Spirit every moment of every day, and His purpose has not changed.  God’s will is for us to continue to suffer and serve to call His people out of darkness, to show the infinite worth and glory of God.

Colossians 1:24-27 – “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

How do you serve those around you?  At work?  Your neighbors?  Your friends?  Your family?  If someone were to look at your life, would they have questions about why you serve others the way you do?  Why are there Christian marriages that are broken, when the purpose of marriage is to serve one another, not be served?  Why are there Christians who go hungry, need homes, and feel isolated?  People will sit back and ask why God doesn’t do something about these things.  The answer is God already has done something.  God’s answer and great desire is for the body of believers that make up the Church to serve as Christ served.

My exhortation then is to ask yourself if you are generally more concerned about whether or not you’re getting “what you deserve”, or whether you are seeking to serve others at cost to yourself.  Our Reward is not what we can take from this life, but in giving our lives away, we inherit a greater Treasure in Christ.

Be encouraged, none of us serve others like we ought to.  There is always more room to grow in our struggle to kill pride, and humble ourselves as servants.  This is why God, through Paul, was reminding us of our charge throughout the whole New Testament.  My encouragement then is the same as Paul’s as a way of reminder; only believers can serve unselfishly with joy because of Christ.  So then, because you are a believer, and have been reconciled to God through faith alone, and have Christ in you, strain forward to serve beyond your comfort zone.  There is nothing that is lost in this world that can compare to the riches we already have in Christ.

Grace and Peace,

Adam