Serve Faithfully.

1 Samuel 12:24
24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

"Being like Jesus means we are loving and have the same serving attitude as Jesus" were two of the things mentioned in our book during day three of our small groups (SERVE.)

Just like loving one another isn't easy, serving others isn't that easy either. They both kinda go hand-in-hand though. Certain things can get in the way of our servanthood. We don't have a problem as we sit in our comfy home. I know I find it very easy to lower the air conditioning when I'm overheated. I think, well, I guess it's pretty natural to do that when you have the abilities.

Wait a minute...who am I serving again? God. Oh that's right, NOT ME! I have to remind myself that sometimes. It's not always easy to sacrifice things, but when you do, it pleases God.

I know I found it very difficult to serve God before I started going on mission trips a few years ago. I had absolutely no interest in going on mission trips. NONE! ZIP! Now it feels like I'm always getting ready to go on one. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying it's so much easier to continue, once you break the barrier and enter into God's mission field.

Think of it this way before I was led to go on these mission trips, I felt like I was peeking into the quintessential 'dark and scary neighbor's house across the street' as I run up to the windows nervously asking "is it safe in there?" You might even play ding dong ditch (not a good idea). (By the way, that scary house, being God's mission field). Eventually, you're going to have to burst your bubble and do things that are seemingly not comfortable as growing Christians. In the end, I'll bet you'll say "that wasn't so bad" in most cases. Before you know it, I almost guarantee you'll be like "let's do it again." That means you're not even the tiniest bit scared of your neighbor's house anymore unless you see him outside without a shirt. In fact, most times you'll find yourself knocking at your neighbor's door more often and not running away! In other word's, you're knocking on God's door frequently to ask him, "what can I do next?" I'm reminding you again though some serving opportunities will be scarier than others. Nonetheless, it's a bizarre example, but hopefully you get my point.

So I want you to think, what makes it so difficult to serve others even though we've learned that God pours his love on us all the time?

"LOVE + SERVING = Emptying ourselves for others."

"From the Corners of the Earth" by Starfield.


P.S. If you have trouble with the video stopping and starting, keep the video paused, and let it "buffer" (load) as it's called for a while. You will see the red bar along the bottom advance (speed depends on your Internet connection). Wait until that bar gets pretty far along (I'd say more than halfway) before you play the video and it shouldn't pause.