"I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship." - Romans 12:1 AMP
SERVICE:
- help, use, benefit
- contribution to the welfare of others
- the act of serving as a helpful act, or useful labor that does not produce a tangible commodity
- to provide (someone) with something that is needed or wanted
"Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
For many years I had no idea what service meant. I thought it meant doing something I didn't want to do, that someone had to force me, trick me, manipulate me into doing it against my will. There was nothing I could say or do about it one way or the other. I felt obligated, so I did as I was told with a sense of duty and a feeling of drudgery attached to it. I thought serving others meant I had to pretend to be somebody I was not. I thought I had to let people control me, walk all over me, and I had to pretend it was okay, knowing deep in my heart of hearts that it wasn't. I resented being treated that way; I hated it with a passion but could do nothing about it, that's just the way things were. So I had to suck it up and deal; it was what it was. I know that isn't what some people want to hear, but I have to be honest. I didn't like it one bit.
As it turns out what I was doing had nothing to do with service at all. I was being manipulated through fear and guilt into doing things for others that they should have been doing for themselves. They asked me to do things for them that they were perfectly capable of doing, they just chose not to do so. Why do it yourself when you can get somebody to do it for you? It's so much easier, they reasoned. What I wanted to do didn't matter, I had no say, I should just shut up and do as I was told without asking any questions because they said so. I resented it bitterly because I felt violated. Used. Like a puppet on a string.
With the passing of time I discovered, much to my relief, that the meaning of service is far different than what I had been taught years ago. I learned that service is a voluntary expression of your genuine self, from the depths of your being. Service is an act of your free will that allows you to bless others and receive blessings in return; as you give, you receive. Service has a built in sense of peace and purpose that nothing else can match. Service has nothing to do with making yourself look good in the eyes of others, making yourself look good at the expense of others, or giving others a false impression that you are superior to the people who receive your helping hand. You offer value to another person because you see that person as valuable, and in so doing both giver and receiver are lifted up.
It is only when you serve another from the heart that you can truly be yourself, express yourself. Rather than drudgery there is joy in the act of serving, because you are sharing your true self with others, offering to others the fullest expression of the value you possess, and in kind receiving in your heart the peace that passes understanding when you reach out to aid your fellow man at a time when it is needed most.
And best of all, service is what you make it; it's your choice, not someone else's. It doesn't matter if anyone agrees with what you do, who you do it for, or why you do it. What you do to serve is not about them, it's about you and the people who receive the benefit from your acts of service. So if someone disagrees with what you're doing it doesn't matter because you don't need their approval. They can judge and criticize all they want; chances are they aren't doing anything worthy of notice, so what they have to say doesn't carry any weight anyway.
Remember that the next time someone tries to tell you what you're doing is wrong. Listen carefully, because they may really be saying, I don't do that, or I wouldn't do that if I were you. Settle the matter in your own heart, make peace with your decision, knowing it is yours alone to make, and then do what you know in your heart to be right. And don't concern yourself with people who question your motives:
"For you see, in the end, it is between you and God...
It was never between you and them, anyway..." - Mother Teresa
That's all for now, gotta run. Until we meet again, remember:
Keep it simple...See ya!
With the passing of time I discovered, much to my relief, that the meaning of service is far different than what I had been taught years ago. I learned that service is a voluntary expression of your genuine self, from the depths of your being. Service is an act of your free will that allows you to bless others and receive blessings in return; as you give, you receive. Service has a built in sense of peace and purpose that nothing else can match. Service has nothing to do with making yourself look good in the eyes of others, making yourself look good at the expense of others, or giving others a false impression that you are superior to the people who receive your helping hand. You offer value to another person because you see that person as valuable, and in so doing both giver and receiver are lifted up.
It is only when you serve another from the heart that you can truly be yourself, express yourself. Rather than drudgery there is joy in the act of serving, because you are sharing your true self with others, offering to others the fullest expression of the value you possess, and in kind receiving in your heart the peace that passes understanding when you reach out to aid your fellow man at a time when it is needed most.
And best of all, service is what you make it; it's your choice, not someone else's. It doesn't matter if anyone agrees with what you do, who you do it for, or why you do it. What you do to serve is not about them, it's about you and the people who receive the benefit from your acts of service. So if someone disagrees with what you're doing it doesn't matter because you don't need their approval. They can judge and criticize all they want; chances are they aren't doing anything worthy of notice, so what they have to say doesn't carry any weight anyway.
Remember that the next time someone tries to tell you what you're doing is wrong. Listen carefully, because they may really be saying, I don't do that, or I wouldn't do that if I were you. Settle the matter in your own heart, make peace with your decision, knowing it is yours alone to make, and then do what you know in your heart to be right. And don't concern yourself with people who question your motives:
"For you see, in the end, it is between you and God...
It was never between you and them, anyway..." - Mother Teresa
That's all for now, gotta run. Until we meet again, remember:
Keep it simple...See ya!
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