A Servant's Heart

But it should not be that way among you. 

Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. 

Whoever wants to become first among you must serve the rest of you like a slave. 

In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. 

He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people. 

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Matthew 20:26-28

I want to succeed! I want to be great! I want people to look at me and think I am just the absolute best at what I do and there's nobody better. When in help, I want them to run to me. I want this position; it will be the ultimate dream.

We think that. You know it's true. We may not verbalize it, but the thought will occasionally entertain itself across the front of our minds. Why? Because we're human. We have qualities in us that are ugly and far from perfect. We love the spot light and we love being noticed. It makes us feel good about ourselves. It can be pride, arrogance, self-centeredness, competition, or even just desiring so much to do well it becomes an unhealthy obsession.

Let me say it's not wrong to want to succeed and do well. I try for that all the time; sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. I tend to get really aggressive when it comes to doing well. I want things to happen and for plans to succeed so much it can literally place a huge ache in my heart. Then I walk around in emotional instability. I think of my dreams. I want them to happen so bad! I desire so much to get where my heart longs to go. 

Here's the deal through... As I was reading God's word today I came across Matthew 20:26-28. It struck a chord with me. How can I be so avid on moving forward and striving to be something great? There's a total lack of me serving. Now, I love to serve; I really do. However, I've noticed at times I want my dreams and aspirations to happen so much I forget where to start. It's all about serving. To take myself from attempting to be the greatest and thinking the least of me. And it's not serving just so I can become great. Jesus came to the earth and lived a life as a servant. I want to follow in the foot steps of Jesus; as He served so should I. I need to serve people around me, the body of Christ, and the Lord's house. How dare I be so consumed with other things than the Lord's path for my life? I want to be a servant! I want to follow God's will more than anything. The cloud blocking my vision of Christ right now needs to disappear because my eyes need to be on Him. I am here to serve. If it's God's will I be promoted then so be it, and in his timing. I want to serve just as Jesus served while walking here on earth. 

I remember during a chapel once, one of my leaders said a leader must have a servant's heart. A leader strives to help others and do all they can for the people around them. Their heart is for the service and well being of others. And they are a leader because they are the ones who choose to step out and get down to serve. It takes courage to see a need, step out, and do it. Imagine that... a leader who is a servant. It's a beautiful image. It's an image of Jesus and can be one of us, too.

My challenge for today is to become the servant; to think less of our needs and more of others. It can be hard at times because we may want to be in the spotlight. In all reality, we just need to serve. We need to be there for people as support. We need to serve our teams even when we don't get to do the things we want. As the body of Christ, we call ourselves followers of Jesus. We follow His life and His footsteps. If Jesus came as a servant, then we are to follow out of faithful obedience to God in being servants. I believe that if we really love the body of Christ and we love Christ Himself, a heart for serving will flow out of us and we won't be so consumed with our needs and wants anymore. And if that comes a difficulty, pray about it. Ask God to remove whatever it is that holds back from being a servant. I will be the first to say I do it. I ask God to give me more of a servant's heart; to remove envy, greed, pride, and everything not of him. And he does it because he loves me.

Happy Saturday!
❤ Ariel Christine