Choose To Be a Servant
May 23rd, 2008 | by Ed |I read a quote from Richard Foster this week that I’ve been meditating on. He said that there’s a difference between choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant. It’s possible to serve–enthusiatically and diligently–and not have a servant’s heart. Serving without a servant’s heart becomes self-serving.
When I choose to serve, I’m in control. I choose when and where I’ll serve, who I’ll serve, and under what circumstances I’ll serve. And if I’m not sufficiently recognized, then I’ll take my ball and go home. It’s more about me than those I serve.
But when I choose to be a servant, I serve because it’s the nature of Christ in me to serve, because my service is a blessing to others. Whether my service is recognized or not becomes irrelevant.
In the kingdom of God, spiritual giants are the ones who stoop the lowest. Not because they’re trying to impress others with their service but because they choose to be a servant.
One Response to “Choose To Be a Servant”
By Jessica on May 24, 2008 | Reply
Hey Pastor Ed,
Thank you for this lovely and important reminder–I remember writing this same quote from Richard Foster inside the cover of my Bible when you talked about it years ago, and it keeps traveling with me as I transition to new Bibles, right inside the front cover!