Serving others

The text for today’s message is found in Galatians 5:13b, “through love, serve one another.” It is a calling of every believer in Jesus Christ to serve others. In Matthew 20:28 Jesus says, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus is our example. Even though He was and is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, He chose to serve and to give His life for me. Serving others is not what the natural man wants to do. The natural man or fleshly man wants others to serve him. So, how do we serve others? Romans 5:5 says, “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”  For the person who has surrendered their heart to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, God’s love has been poured out into our hearts. His love is there, it simply needs to be shown to others.
And there is joy in serving. There is joy in giving of ourselves to benefit someone else. Hebrews 12:2 tells us to “consider Jesus, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross.” The cross was one of the most brutal forms of punishment and execution ever devised by man, but the Bible says for Jesus, in the midst of the pain, there was joy. How can this be? Because of love. Going to the cross was a joy for Jesus because He knew the end result of that act of obedience would be the offer of total forgiveness for anyone who would call on His name to be saved. Have you ever called on Jesus to forgive you of all of your sins? His grace and love is available to you today, if you will ask Him. And once you do call on Jesus, commit to doing His will. Through love, serve one another.