Today during a meeting, I spoke with a man who is looking for a person to fill an open position on his team, but not just anyone, a person with in his words: “a servant’s heart”.  This really struck me, I have heard this term so many times growing up in Church and a Christian School, but this was the first time I had heard the term in what many would call “Corporate America”. It was honestly quite refreshing. It got me thinking though, do we as Christians really exude a servants heart in all we do, or do we take the term out of context and only apply it at certain times in certain situations?

Well first let’s start with what the definition of a servant’s heart is.

In the world the definition of Servant by merriam-webster.com says:

noun  ser·vant \ˈsər-vənt\

When you go to a restaurant, a Server’s duty is to take care of their customer, access their needs and fulfill them, usually with a positive attitude and a smile on their face.  Servers usually make below minimum wage but do however receive tips depending on their service.

In the church the definition of Servant usually, (and I say usually because I know this is just my opinion of what a vast majority of churches depict) refers to someone who helps others, usually others who are less fortunate. The Church usually refers to The Parable of the Good Samaritan, in Luke 10:25-37, Jesus’ response to the Lawyer who was testing Him, asking who his neighbor was. In the parable, Jesus explains how there was a man traveling from Jerusalem that was attacked by robbers and left for dead, 3 men crossed his path, a Priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. Both the Priest and the Levite passed by the man, with little to no acknowledgement. However, the Samaritan went out of his way and by taking up his own time, assisted the man, served the man with no expectations of appreciation or acknowledgement. The Samaritan did it out of the kindness of his own heart.   

In the Bible, a servant’s heart is described many times. Serving others is important part of being a Christian. Jesus Himself was a servant, the greatest servant of all time, not only did He serve others while He walked the earth but even in His death He served. He made the greatest sacrifice for all of us who were and are definitely not worthy of his service. Mark 10:45 tells us that Jesus came “not to be served, but to serve others”. He explained after washing the disciple’s feet in John 13:14 “If I the Lord and Teacher have washed your feet; you also should wash one another’s feet.” Meaning it is our job to serve others.  It tells us in Proverbs 11:25 that when we bless and serve others, we will be blessed. It also tells us in in Matthew 20:26 to be “great” we must serve.

I think it is great that there are so many who use their time to serve others who are less fortunate, but what about serving others that are not less fortunate?  What about serving others every day at work, at home, at church; our bosses, our families, our friends and our mentors? It says in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” meaning we are all equal, we are all neighbors and are all walking through this life together as brothers and sisters in Christ (weather everyone believes that or not).  Romans 15:1-7 shows the example of Christ, and in verse 2 Paul says, “let each of us please his neighbor for good, to build him up” I take this as it is our responsibility to serve and help others weather they are wealthy or poor better off than us or not. Now am I saying we should not help others who are less fortunate or that I disagree with that, of course not! I think what I am getting at is more of a question, do you serve others in everything you do, or just in certain situations?  Do you have a servant’s heart every day or just occasionally? Colossians 3:23 says: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” I know at times it may seem that our hard work and serving others is just for the other persons gain, but it is not. WHEN WE SERVE OTHERS, WE SERVE GOD. Do you do your best to serve God every day? There are so many important professions in the world that the job description is pretty much summed up as serving others: Soldiers serve our country, doctors and nurses serve our health and wellness, police, firefighters and emt’s serve us and protect us. But what about you in your daily job? When grabbing your boss’s coffee, are you doing it with a happy heart, or are you wishing someone would fix you coffee? When you are picking up all the toys and messes others in your family have left lying around the house for the 3^rd time that day, are you angry and wanting to throw your hands up and just not do it? Don’t get me wrong, it can be hard when we have so much going on in our own lives, to want to help others and truly enjoy it. Haven’t you ever heard the saying “you have not lived today, until you have done something for someone else”? Helping others is part of our responsibility that comes with our freedom, through Christ. He gave us our freedom, even though we did not deserve it. Galatians 5:13 tells us “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for your flesh, but through love serve one another.” Another words, even if picking all of the little carrots out of your boss’s salad who ordered the salad in the first place or throwing your spouse’s dirty socks that are right by the hamper into the hamper in no way give you personal gain, do it anyways and with a happy heart. Because remember, if you are serving others, you are serving God, and God deserves our best service.

So I challenge you this week to have a servants heart in everything you do….