Share My Life With Others - Service

    Serving can be hard.  I mean, after a long day of work or school, I know the last thing I want to do is serve someone.  I mean, come on?  Can't they do something nice for me?  The thing is, though, that is exactly the kind of attitude that has created this materialistic society we live in today.  We want people to do good things for us, but we don't want to have to go out of our way for anyone else.  That is, until you understand our calling as Christians:

"Christians are the very essence of God to others.  We become God's vehicle of blessing on planet earth." - Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

    But the thing is, we can't serve, if we aren't ready.  We need to prepare our hearts for service, because if you are helping someone, but are totally selfish about it, or have a bad attitude, how is that showing God's love?  But even before you are willing to humble yourself and prepare for service, you have to be able to see the need.  A pastor, and good friend of mine once challenged me with this statement, "pray to God 'make what breaks Your heart break mine as well.'"  That's scary!  When you start to pray this prayer, God shows you the needs around you.  It isn't till you can see the world through God's eyes that you can truly serve.  Seeing through God's eyes means looking past economic status', race, gender, beliefs, or shortcomings of others, to look at the need.  Humbly serving and meeting that need shows the love of God to someone who may not know love.

"Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.  You don't have to have a college degree to serve.  You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.  You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love." - Martin Luther King Jr.