On Being a Servant

“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. And He said to her, ‘What do you wish?’ She said to Him, ‘Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.’ But Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’ They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ He said to them, ‘My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.’

And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’” Matthew 20:20-28

The most striking feature about Jesus during His earthly ministry was His unceasing servanthood mindset. Though He was full of deity, His life was pure reflection of a humble servant. Since we are created to be conformed to the image of Christ, we should increasingly demonstrate the attributes of a genuine servant. That will occur as we take on the following characteristics:

Awareness - Are we alert to the needs of others around us? Are we sensitive to their hurts, dreams, problems?

Availability - Do we take so much time meeting our own needs that we have no time for others? We have to make time to serve.

Acceptance - One reason we don’t serve lovingly is because we have a hard time accepting others. We look at their faults instead of seeing them through the eyes of the Father.

Abiding - If we are to serve others, we must have something to give. We can give time and love to others only as we depend on Jesus daily and draw our strength and wisdom from Him.

Abandonment - Jesus says if man is to find his life, he must lose it (Matthew 10:39). What He means is that we should cease trying to call attention to ourselves and instead concentrate our concern on others.