What Motivates YOUR Service?

Another excerpt from the writings of Lilias Trotter:

Parables of the Cross and the Christ Life

       "The return is to Him as we see in parable with the plants.  They show us a love that seeks not her own; no one knows whence the seeds come when they reach their journey's end; no glory can possibly gather round the plants that surrendered their lives to form and shed them.  They just give and give, with no aim but to be bare stalks when all is done.  Everything is loosed without a shade of calculation or self-interest.

       'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory', they are all saying in spirit; they teach us absolute indifference as to whether our service is appreciated or even recognized so long as the work is done and the Lord is glorified, for God cannot get His whole glory as long as man gets any.

      So no matter if we never see the full up-springing on earth of the Spirit-seed scattered.  It is all the more likely that God will trust us with a great multiplying if our faith does not need to witness it.  He can grant us spiritual harvests out of sight of which only He gains the glory...for there is no limit to what God can do with a man, provided he will not touch the glory."  

My prayer:

O Lord, You know my heart.  It is true that my service for You is hardly ever done from pure motives.  You know that I crave recognition and desire to be appreciated for the things I do.  Put within my heart the desire for Your glory, rather than my own.  You are worthy of it all.  

"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, 

because of Your mercy, because of Your truth."

(Psalm 115:1)

True Servanthood

                                           

Do you consider yourself a servant?

Then consider the words of Richard Foster:  "We must see the difference between the choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant.  When we choose to serve we are still in charge.  But when we choose to be a servant we give up the right to be in charge."  

A servant does whatever the master asks of them, regardless of how they personally feel about it.

Two of my children are working as counselors at a secular day camp this summer.  They have younger counselors-in-training assigned to work with them.  The CITs' job is to do whatever the counselor asks of them to help the day run more smoothly.  There is one CIT who would continually ask my daughter, "What can I do to help?"  When my daughter told the girl what needed to be done, the girl would then make the decision as to whether or not that task was to her liking.  If it wasn't, she would not do it, but would again ask my daughter, "What can I do to help?"  I'm sure this girl feels like she is being a servant because she is continually offering her service- but is she a servant?  

My daughter also teaches a Sunday school class at our local church.  Right before Sunday school, the children are to gather in a larger room for a time of singing before they are all dismissed to their various classrooms.   This gives the teachers time to set out their materials and make sure they are ready before the children arrive.  There is one girl who comes to my daughter's room instead of going to singing and says, "I'm here to help you.  What can I do?"  Then she proceeds to look through the teaching materials, write on the board, etc.  My daughter tells the girl that everything is under control and reminds her that she needs to go sing with the rest of the children.  "No," the girl replies, "I'm here to help you."  This little girl is there to serve- or is she?

Unfortunately, this attitude is not found only in children and the unsaved.  Even as believers in the Lord Jesus, our hearts are still very deceitful.  We can fool ourselves into believing that we have a servant's heart, when in reality, our "service" is doing what we want to do in the way we want to do it.  

Our attitude towards service needs to be that which the Lord Jesus exemplified.  He very clearly states His motivation in John 6:38- "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me." 

 Being a servant basically boils down to one thing- obedience.  

And yet, serving the Lord does not have to be drudgery.  For those who serve with a right heart attitude, the Lord has great reward- "Enter into the joy of your lord." (Matthew 25:21)  What a blessing, since in His presence is FULLNESS of joy!

"So likewise you, when you have done all those things 

which you are commanded, say, 

'We are unprofitable servants.  We have done what was our duty to do.'"

(Luke 17:10)

Statement of Purpose

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, 

not malicious gossips 

nor enslaved to much wine, 

teaching what is good, 

so that they may encourage the young women 

to love their husbands, 

to love their children,  

to be sensible, 

pure, 

workers at home, 

kind, 

being subject to their own husbands, 

so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Titus 2:3,4,5

We have memorized all of Titus 2:3,4,5 except the last two phrases. I wrote out the complete verse set so we could see where we have been and where we are going. 

These verses have become my statement of purpose for my life right now. This is not a statement of who I am but of who I want to be. The other night while wrestling my youngest daughter for couch space I said out loud, "Is this reverent behavior in an older woman?". We laughed even harder because what we were doing seemed so ridiculous. 

Do you have a statement of purpose? What question do you ask yourself if you find yourself wondering if you are doing what you should be doing? 

In these verses I see 13 questions that we could ask ourselves.

1) Is my behavior reverent?

2) Is this gossip?

3) Will this lead to desire in me or others to drink too much?

4) Is this good?

5) Does this discourage a young woman in what is right?

6) Does this show love for my husband?

7) Does this show love for my children?

8) Is this sensible?

9) Is this pure?

10) Does this make my home a pleasant place?

11)Is it kind?

12)Is this what my husband would want?

13)Is God's Word being dishonored?

Kind

To be kind is to be courteous, gentle, friendly, generous, warm hearted, sympathetic, and understanding. In the picture below a young woman is bringing an older woman a tray of food, the act of bring the food is thoughtful but her inner attitude is what makes this act kind. When I was a child I was often in the hospital, nurses would bring me a tray of food but some of them were not kind. More often than not I do my work at home with an attitude of resentment rather than an attitude of kindness. This is wrong and does not please the LORD or my family. 

What do you think of when you hear the word kind?