Serving others can be a challenge sometimes, can’t it? If you have ever had a job in customer service, you know that dealing with crabby, ungrateful, or contentious customers is a real test of your character! It may even boil down to how well you can ‘act’ during your shift.

As a follower of Christ, serving others each day is part of our calling. It should not be ‘just a role’ in an act, but ‘how we roll’ as we act. A Christian is to have the mindset of loving others (Mark 12:31). Jesus said he came to Earth to serve mankind, not to be served (Mark 10:45). While here, serving was an outflow of his compassion, kindness, and love. It is also a picture of God’s love for us and how he meets our needs.

Serving is a practical way to keep our eyes off of ourselves. It is so easy to get caught up in our agenda, our timeframe, our desires, and our problems. Serving others as a way to honor the Lord helps us put our eyes on Jesus and put our generosity on others. We should not be serving for accolades from others or serving with the goal of earning God’s favor. It should be done as a sacrifice of praise to the Lord.

No matter our job, we are serving others to some degree. In our family life, we are serving others to a full degree. Being able to bless our family members by serving them can bring joy to others, but in reality that is not always the response received. This is when our true motivation encourages us to keep serving. We like to feel appreciated. God wants to be appreciated as well, which we can do, for example, by giving thanks to him, telling others about his goodness, and passing on his kindness to others. When we serve others, we are reflecting the mercy and love God has shown to us.

In 1 Timothy 5, Paul has strong words for believers who do not serve their family with kind deeds. Family is our first ministry; we are to serve them. If we are out doing good deeds in the community, but not taking care of the needs of our family – physical, emotional, relational, spiritual – then we are not demonstrating our faith and representing Jesus to them.

As we serve our family and others in our path, let’s serve with a heart full of gratitude to the Lord, which overflows to those around us.