Advantage, Servant

Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 3:13 NIV

When I first moved to the area I live in now I started to attend a church a friend of mine was attending. I got involved right away and started serving. I met people and began to develop some friendships with some of them. After about three or four months my friend said, "How is it that you have only been going here for a few months and you already know so many people and I hardly know anyone even though I have been coming for a few years?" 

If you want to get connected you have to get involved. It is very difficult to get to know people at your church if all you do is show up for church on Sunday and maybe a mid-week study. The larger the church the more so this holds true. Serving breaks the solitude. Being part of the church is different than just going to church. It is a matter of involvement and connection. 

The other "advantage" to serving is that your faith gets tested. If you start to serve, you will encounter trials you may not experience if you just go to church. Some of these trials can be a bit shocking if you are not prepared for it. Remember, God's plan is to strengthen you through the test and the enemy's desire is to destroy your faith by any means necessary. Maybe you will learn that God provides what you need. Perhaps you will see that God is faithful, even when you aren't as faithful as you think you should be. Or you may just learn that God chooses the weak and foolish to confound the wise. Whatever it is, the grace of serving results in great assurance for those who serve. 

GOT SHEEP?

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

1 Peter 5:1-4 (NIV)

I am a shepherd. I am entrusted with a marriage, a family, six classrooms full of kids, and few endeavours where I volunteer. 

You may not think that you have any influence because you are not "the leader" or a minister or evangelist, but, it is the Holy Spirit that moves and works in each of us. You may not know what God is doing, but he does. 

I was blessed to be involved with my youngest son's Cub Scout pack. This year he (we) moved up to the Boy Scouts. When I left several of the other parents told me they looked at me as a spiritual leader. I was just trying to be a good parent and friend as I believe Christ would have me be. I actually didn't think God was using me, but, he was. 

My point is that you should just try to be Christlike and serve in what ever way you can. God will decide how to use you. 

Father, help us to be Christlike and serve.  Praise be to you in us today!

GIVE & TAKE OF RESPECT: Titus 2:2

"Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance." Titus 2:2

I have been involved in Scouting with my youngest son for the last five years. At one event I observed a Boy Scout in his mid-teens showing a Cub Scout in about second grade how to raise the flag. It was good to see the way the older Scout addressed the younger scout. You could see the way the Cub Scout looked up to the Boy Scout and I was impressed with the manner in which the Boy Scout taught him to participate in a flag raising ceremony, respectfully. 

I have worked with students and parents as a teacher and administrator for twenty three years. To earn people's respect is more than just holding a title. People won't respect you if you do not keep your word. People won't respect you if you treat them like you are better than them. Let me tell you, kids know whether you actually care about them or not. And they will let you know fairly quickly. After working in one South Central school for about seven or eight years a fellow teacher noted that my door didn't get tagged while everyone elses did. I earned the communities respect by treating them with respect, which wasn't always easy. 

I am being respectful? Are my actions worthy of respect or are they suspect? In the end I think it all boils down to being Christlike. If I am seeking to be Christlike I will be respectful and respectable.

Father, help us to be servants of Christ and to be Christlike in our actions. Praise be to you in us today!