Serving Is a Mindset

In college, I worked at a retail storefront owned by a family of believers. They repeatedly emphasized that “Love looks like meeting a need”. It was a value in their home with their children, their marriage, and how they expected their employees to show up at work.

They taught me that service in all areas of our life meant having love at the forefront of our minds. But more than that, that love was not some intangible goal to attain. Love is defined in action.

What Are The Needs of Those Around Us?

“But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”(Matthew 20:26-7)

Jesus calls us to serve as He did. It was Jesus’s great pleasure to serve those He walked alongside while on earth. Loving our families looks like seeing a need they have and coming alongside them to help. It’s as simple as helping them with a chore at home, or offering a single mom help picking up her kids from school. Intentional practice of serving is about showing those in our lives that they are loved. Even more, that we are willing to help them in tangible ways.

Ask yourself: what are the practical needs of the people God has placed in my life? While sweeping retail floors was not my favorite past-time, it was a need I could meet without being prompted. And as a result, I took the burden of a mindless task away from my bosses.

This week I challenge you to consider how to joyfully serve as Jesus did, remembering that love looks like something.