True Serving Engraves the Love of God on People's Hearts, and Causes Them to Come to Jesus!

Good Morning My Loves,

If everyone one of us stepped out to serve with welcoming affection for each other and the lost, what would this world look like? I think it would look a lot like heaven. The lost would be welcomed and saved as we treat others with the sacrificial love of Christ. Jesus didn’t wait until you were lovable before he loved and welcomed you. He simply loved you. He died in your place, and paid the ultimate price for your sins by laying down His own life for you while you were an “ungodly mess!” Romans 5:6-8 (NKJV)

Christ in Our Place

6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus didn’t say, “Love your neighbor as yourself…except for the girl with the tattoos and piercings, the racist, the incarcerated, the left-wing liberal, the ultra conservative, the abortion supporter, the homosexual, the super rich, or anyone else,” He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself!” Period!

Paul was primarily speaking to believers when he said, “Therefore, continue to accept and welcome one another, just as Christ has accepted and welcomed us to the glory of [our great] God. (Romans 15:7) But, notice how a welcoming spirit glorifies God. It also is a picture of how He welcomed us when there was nothing about us that was welcoming. We are not only called to serve those we want to impress, or those with whom we have much in common, but those who are different than we are. In order for our love to be like God’s we must not look at economics, race, nationality, age, religion, or lifestyle.

In order to carry the love of Jesus and the message of the cross to those who so desperately need it, our service cannot simply take place inside the church. We must reach out. A lifestyle of loving and serving our families, friends, and communities, is like Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross—IT’S NOT CONVENIENT; but it is the best way to get the attention of an increasingly self-oriented world who is more distracted than any previous generation. If you want them to see God, you’ve got to get down in their world and show them the Light of Jesus, through your “good works-deeds!” Matthew 5:16 (AMP)

16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.

That doesn’t happen when we merely go through the motions of love and call ourselves servants, but do not actually serve. Having the title “servant,” without true Christian service, is a mute point. The pride in each of us wants to be heroic. We want self-rule instead of self-control. We want self glory instead of God’s glory. But true serving is simple stuff that appears to get no personal fanfare, but it reveals the love of God to others.

-Meals don’t cook themselves.

-Lawns don’t mow themselves. -Laundry doesn’t clean, fold, and put itself away. (OH HOW I WISH! LOL)

-Clothes don’t give themselves away.

-Babysitters, groceries, taxi’s that take those who can’t drive to doctors appointments don’t magically appear, they appear because someone decided to care, to serve another person who was in need.

LEADERSHIP KEY: Great servant leaders seek to engrave the love of God on people’s hearts through serving them as Christ has done for them. They serve even when it’s hard, messy, and inconvenient, knowing that it’s this kind of sacrificial love that will ultimately bring those they serve to Jesus.

Good works don’t save people, the blood of Jesus and faith in Christ’s finished work of the cross does that, but it sure does help people see His love and cause them to be drawn to Him.

Who are you serving? Are you loving your neighbor as yourself even when it’s uncomfortable and inconvenient?

Do people see the Light of Jesus through your good deeds and recognize and honor and glorify your Father in heaven? Let’s pursue God’s glory through our serving, rather than our own. Let’s seek to engrave the love of God on people’s hearts through serving them the way Christ has served us.

I love you all! PV