12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and SERVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND SOUL. —Deuteronomy 10:12
15 …But as for me and my family, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD. —Joshua 24:15
11 Never be lazy, but work hard and SERVE THE LORD ENTHUSIASTICALLY. —Romans 12:11
1 This letter is from Paul, A SLAVE OF CHRIST JESUS, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. —Romans 1:1
…AS SLAVES OF CHRIST, do the will of God with all your heart. —Ephesians 6:6
16 For you are free, yet YOU ARE GOD’S SLAVES, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. —1 Peter 2:16
11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. —1 Peter 4:11
10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. —Hebrews 6:10
We are not saved by serving, but we are saved for serving.
1. The understanding for serving others is bigger than
23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. —Colossians 3:23-24
2. The barrier for serving others is
34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. —Mark 8:34-35
3. The motive for serving others is love
3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but IF I DIDN’T LOVE OTHERS, I WOULD HAVE GAINED NOTHING. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. —1 Corinthians 13:3-7
God is far more interested in why you serve others than in how well you serve them.
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. —Philippians 2:3-11
24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. —1 Peter 2:24
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” —1 Corinthians 11:23-25