The Determination to Serve

Feb 23, 2021 at 7:46 AM

‘Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ (Matthew 20:28, NIV)

Learning to serve like Jesus isn’t easy. It’s easy to get hurt by the very people you’re trying to serve. It can drain your passion and motivation.

Oswald Chambers said that Paul’s focus in service wasn’t on loving people, but on loving the Lord. If we dedicate ourselves only to making people happy, we’ll quickly end up heartbroken and backsliding, because people can be more ungrateful than dogs.

The ‘dog’ metaphor is pretty apt. It immediately reminds me of times serving my two kids. When they rebel, disobey, or say offensive things, my wife and I often say it’d be easier to raise pets than kids.

If the root of service is loving people, even your own kids, you’ll inevitably feel discouraged. Weak people will always disappoint weak people (a bit of a tongue-twister). So, as a parent, even in something as seemingly natural as ’loving your kids,’ I need to learn to root my service in loving God.

Yesterday was chaotic. During my morning devotional, I could read all the words in both Chinese and English, but felt nothing and couldn’t write any notes. Spent an hour discussing a design project with a friend; late morning, while researching a video download feature, I got distracted by a movie. Work spilled into lunch when I should have been reading the Bible. By afternoon, I was worried about my dry, cracked ankle skin. A friend mentioned a stock market crash, and a quick glance at the account confirmed it. The evening was rough; after a rushed family service, a minor family issue made me refuse to lead the prayer.

Behind this chaos was my sin. I was weak, took shortcuts at work, lived without discipline, and couldn’t control my emotions…

This morning, I prayed, starting with ‘forgive me my sins…’ But as soon as I said it, I realized—what am I saying?!

Honestly, I’m not clear what my sins are; or maybe I just don’t care about my sins enough to see myself as needing forgiveness.

Theoretically, I know about the cost of sin, but I don’t truly grasp it to ‘believe it as true.’

Because I don’t understand the cost of sin, I can’t truly appreciate how indispensable, wide and long and high and deep Jesus’ salvation is.

Without experiencing Jesus’ salvation, how can I love God?

If I can’t love God, how can I love and serve others?

In the end, the determination to serve comes from loving God, as a natural response to His grace. Loving God begins with recognizing your own sin, filth, and unworthiness; realizing the harsh, irrevocable cost of sin; and finally understanding how necessary and great Jesus’ salvation is.

May the Holy Spirit enlighten me, drive out my ignorance, stupidity, and numbness, ‘convict me of sin, righteousness, and judgment’ (John 16:8, NIV). Help me know and thank God for His salvation, so I can love God and then love others.

Thank God:

• Yesterday was really dark, but there’s still reason to be thankful.

1. Thank God for keeping Anran’s hand safe, slowly recovering.
2. Thank my wife for making bread for the family’s breakfast the next day.
3. Thank God for His protection, bringing me to His words this morning after yesterday’s difficulties; ‘weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.’ (Psalm 30:5, NIV)