by Rev. James Wong
“Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life.” ~Matthew 20:28 (LB)
What defines your life? I like to think of Christian living based on what Jesus said about himself. He said: "Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life" (Matthew 20:28 LB). ‘To serve’; and ‘to give’ defined the life of Jesus Christ.
To serve and to give is at the heart of our Christian life. The goal of Christian maturity is to be in service. We grow up in order to give out. A lot of Bible study without service leads to spiritual stagnation. Christian maturity is for ministry! We move from a consumer to a contributor, from being served to serving and from receiving to giving.
Our daily life should be defined by these two verbs; ‘serving’; and ‘giving’. This means we will inculcate a mentality of serving and giving in the following areas of our life.
1. Church life. Instead of looking for a church that meets my needs and blesses me, I am looking for a church where I can serve and be a blessing to others. Most people expect others to serve them. Serving and giving is against our natural inclination. But when we allow serving and giving to define our lives, we go out and seek to serve and give to others. We shift the focus of our lives to living a life of service and giving. If we follow Christ’s example we will not ask “who is going to meet my needs?” but we will ask “whose needs can I meet?”.
2. Work life. In the world of business ‘customer service’ is the key to success. Would your service be the key to your company’s success? If we go to work with the attitude of serving and giving our best to the company that we work for, our job performance will improve by leaps and bounds. Is your work characterized by a spirit of serving and giving? We should get rid of the lassitude at work and seeks to serve and give our best.
3. Family life. We have many expectations in our family or in our marriage. We expect our spouse to treat us in a certain way or do certain things for us to make us happy. Stop that for a moment. To live a life that is defined by serving and giving, ask, “What can I do to serve my family members and what can I give to them to make them feel the love of Christ and experience the beauty and happiness of life?” How can I serve and give to the other members in the family. How can I serve and give to my spouse?
There is a life and death difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Galilee is a lake full of life because it takes in water but also gives it out. In contrast, nothing lives in the Dead Sea because, with no outflow, the lake has stagnated. If you always seek to serve and to give, you are like the Sea of Galilee. What defines your life?
What defines your life? I like to think of Christian living based on what Jesus said about himself. He said: "Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life" (Matthew 20:28 LB). ‘To serve’; and ‘to give’ defined the life of Jesus Christ.
To serve and to give is at the heart of our Christian life. The goal of Christian maturity is to be in service. We grow up in order to give out. A lot of Bible study without service leads to spiritual stagnation. Christian maturity is for ministry! We move from a consumer to a contributor, from being served to serving and from receiving to giving.
Our daily life should be defined by these two verbs; ‘serving’; and ‘giving’. This means we will inculcate a mentality of serving and giving in the following areas of our life.
1. Church life. Instead of looking for a church that meets my needs and blesses me, I am looking for a church where I can serve and be a blessing to others. Most people expect others to serve them. Serving and giving is against our natural inclination. But when we allow serving and giving to define our lives, we go out and seek to serve and give to others. We shift the focus of our lives to living a life of service and giving. If we follow Christ’s example we will not ask “who is going to meet my needs?” but we will ask “whose needs can I meet?”.
2. Work life. In the world of business ‘customer service’ is the key to success. Would your service be the key to your company’s success? If we go to work with the attitude of serving and giving our best to the company that we work for, our job performance will improve by leaps and bounds. Is your work characterized by a spirit of serving and giving? We should get rid of the lassitude at work and seeks to serve and give our best.
3. Family life. We have many expectations in our family or in our marriage. We expect our spouse to treat us in a certain way or do certain things for us to make us happy. Stop that for a moment. To live a life that is defined by serving and giving, ask, “What can I do to serve my family members and what can I give to them to make them feel the love of Christ and experience the beauty and happiness of life?” How can I serve and give to the other members in the family. How can I serve and give to my spouse?
There is a life and death difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Galilee is a lake full of life because it takes in water but also gives it out. In contrast, nothing lives in the Dead Sea because, with no outflow, the lake has stagnated. If you always seek to serve and to give, you are like the Sea of Galilee. What defines your life?
No comments:
Post a Comment