JUNE 14, 2014. SERVING REQUIRES HUMILITY

sATURDAY, June 14 2014

'Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.' Philippians 2:5 NIV

Serving Requires Humility

Paul writes: 'You must have the same attitude that...Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges...took the...position of a slave...humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on the cross. Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honour and gave Him the name above all other names...' (Philippians 2:5-9 NLT) Being a celebrity often means we expect others to serve us, but being a Christ follower means we are called to serve others. There's a big difference, isn't there? Christ modelled servanthood before His disciples. On the social totem pole, the lowest servant in the house washed feet. Try to picture God washing the feet of common fishermen, then saying, 'As I have served you, now go and serve one another.' Download that picture the next time you view somebody as a burden, or beneath you or an obstacle to your success. You'll never serve as Christ served if your focus is on building your own image. 'Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He had come from God and was going to God ...began to wash the disciples' feet.' (John 13:3-5 NKJV) Jesus had settled three big issues: (1) He knew Who sent Him. (2) He knew Who sustained Him. (3) He knew Who was going to reward Him. Therefore He was liberated from the fear of people, the fear of failure and the fear of rejection. JL Massed said it so well: 'Service can never become slavery to one who loves.'