What it means to serve others

Hello Friends,

I’m so glad you’re here! I have wanted to get my Little Deedlings website and blog up for over five years and I’m so glad that my dream has now become a reality. I am thankful to God for putting this dream in my heart. He has blessed me abundantly and I am so grateful to Him for lighting the path and showing me the way.

I want to thank Wes Pitts for creating the website and all the elements that are included. I think he has done an amazing job. Thank you, Wes! I also want to thank my dear family for listening to me talk about doing this for the last five years. It would not be possible without your love and support! Thank you, all!

It took me a little while to decide on my first blog post topic. But when inspiration struck it seemed so obvious that I should begin with what it means to serve others. Most likely that topic seems clear for most people, but what does it really mean to serve others and to have a servant heart. Let’s look at those terms a bit more closely.

I had the pleasure of working with Professor Siang Yang Tan at Fuller Seminary roughly 20 years ago and I highly recommend his book on this topic, Full Service: Moving From Self-Serve Christianity to Total Servanthood. In the book Professor Tan explains that as Christians we are called upon by Jesus. “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” Luke 9:23-27

Here is an excerpt from Professor Tan’s book:

A major part of such devoted discipleship is servanthood. Servanthood is serving Jesus or serving with Jesus. It involves not just being servants of Christ but being servants with Christ: servants in and through whom Christ lives and works, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is servanthood with the right kind of servant attitude that comes from abiding in Christ and following Him in loving humility and caring compassion for the people we serve, for as servants of Christ we are also servants of people.

There are many instances in the Bible where Jesus speaks about serving others and how important it is as His followers to serve:

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:42-45

Jesus, of course, served in the ultimate way, by dying on the cross so that we could be saved. There is no greater act of service than His giving His life for us.

This is the heart of what servanthood is all about. This website is a place where we can learn more about how to serve and in what ways might be best for each of us to serve. We are all different and each of us has individual talents that we can use to serve others. I encourage you to start making some notes about serving.

What is the talent that you would like to develop and use to serve others? Where is God calling you to serve? What does servanthood mean to you? We will look at these topics in future blog posts which I will have up for you about twice a month. Until next time…

Cheerfully in Christ,

Lelia

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27