Jesus also said, “Yet I am among you as the One who serves” (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— “. . . ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5).
We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called
to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ,
he is called to be a “doormat” for others— called to be their spiritual
leader, but never their superior. Paul said, “I know how to be abased . .
.” (Philippians 4:12).
Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for
others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. As
long as there was one human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt a
debt of service to that person until he did come to know Him. But the
chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love
for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be
quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted
with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are
motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to
hinder us from serving one another.
Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret
behind his determination to serve others. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a
persecutor, and an insolent man . . .” (1 Timothy 1:13).
In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they
could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred
with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has
served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our
sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our
determination to serve others for His sake.
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