The Service Factor

Many people in America are involved in volunteering and about one-third of all volunteers are involved in service with religious organizations.  One of the keys to healthy relationships has to do with service.  Why is service to others important? 

Service is important because it has the potential to make your environment a better and more encouraging place. In addition, kindness to others can improve their confidence and optimism. Also, it can challenge others to use your action of service as a pattern for them to replicate. Listen to how the writer to the Hebrews explains service. “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the labor of love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them” (Hebrews 6:10). There are four factors in this verse related to biblical service.

1)    Service is difficult.  The verse mentions “work” and “labor.”  Christian service takes time, energy, and lots of effort.

2)    Service should be motivated by love.  This “labor of love” is more than words or feelings—it is action that is based on God’s love for you, your love for God, and your love for others.

3)    Service should have its ultimate focus on God.  As we serve, we need to keep our eyes on God because it represents the “love [we] have shown him.”  To serve means we are not only showing love to those we serve, but to God himself.  Ephesians 6:7 identifies this service when it says, “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you are serving the Lord, not men.”

4)    True service must be ongoing.  Authentic service means there is no letup to our activity, no “breaks in the action”, and no giving up.  This is suggested by the phrase, “continue to help them.”  Service is not a “once and done” deal.  It is something that should be unending.

John Wesley expresses the multi-faceted aspects of service when he said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

Where are you when it comes to the Service Factor?  Is service a vital part of your lifestyle?  Are you anxious to serve others?  If people would describe you, would they say that your life is characterized by service?  Maybe you and I need to take action to serve others with a willing heart. Such a heart suggests that we serve simply because we want to help others.