Learning Through Serving

RISE AND SHINE FOR JESUS!

By Pam Iannello (my late mother)

If someone were to approach you and ask you, “What is service?” How would you reply? Basically, service is work done for other people or for God. Service could be slave labor and service could be forced labor but service could also be sacrificial… Service could even be daily work as well as being in an army. Come to think of it, service takes on all sorts of forms! But service at its best is worship and personal ministry for the Lord.  And oh, what things we learn when we make ourselves servants of God! In fact, we gain a tremendous education no matter who or what it is we serve. And there are some things you just won’t know until you get busy…

Think about it, dear lady - all day long a mother is serving her infant child and while she serves she is learning so much about that child! A newly wed wife who eagerly enters the state of matrimony learns a great deal about her new husband as she sets out to daily meet his needs. A man who forms an attachment with nature and tends to it enthusiastically acquires an enormous amount of insight into the world around him. A child who obeys his mother and carries out his daily assignments as he is instructed by her automatically gains knowledge of his mother’s character. Even a person who serves his appetite seems to know a lot about food prices and unique recipes and food preparation equipment and even where the best restaurants are to be found!

So ponder where you are learning the most and the odds are that you will also find the thing you are most serving… And where you are most frustrated for a lack of knowledge you should intensify your service, for that is where it is most needed! For instance, if two of your children are not getting along with each other make them servants of one another! Where you work is where you learn; where you won’t work and aren’t working is where you will need the most help. Service helps relationships. Service nurtures insight. Service cultivates intellect. Service advances understanding. Service improves our person. Service invites peace. Service boosts our value. Service affords us many benefits…

Matthew 23:11 (KJV)

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

There is no other estimation of greatness I would trust or want to own other than God’s! Men and women might consider us great but that doesn’t mean we are… Ladies, we should all make it a regular habit to check and govern our spirits for they are prone to craving greatness! Nevertheless, Christ tells us that this quality comes not by striving to rise above people, but by serving people. Taking this humble path leads to the most growth; excellence is a byproduct of heartfelt service.

Mark 9:35 (KJV)

And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

• Are you really a servant of ALL or are there some people and/or situations in which you refuse to put forth any labor?
• What person or set of circumstances has been permitted to paralyze your efforts in past settings?
• How can you become “servant of all” in your everyday actions and attitudes?
• Does the kind of attention that you give to your responsibilities show that you love God or self; that you are interested in growth or comfort?
• Is there anyone in your home that God would say you are not serving from the heart?
• Would your pastor consider you an active, working member who serves in and through the local church with a suitable attitude?
• Are you more prone to working toward your own goals for yourself or God’s goals for you?
• Where are your greatest contributions of service showing up?
• Do you freely offer your skills to improve the quality of life somewhere else?
• Would you rather dictate how to do something or deliver the example?
• Are you displaying more evidence of a desire to be first or a desire to support the advancement of other people and holy purposes? 

Ladies, in this day and age we are all busy, and most regrettably, we are busiest for self and learning very little about the people around us or God in heaven.  Does your life reflect what God considers important? Has your style of serving cut you off from a very valuable education? If it has, you will also miss out on the greatest rewards…

Matthew 16:27 (KJV)

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

God Bless,

Pam

Isaiah 60:1&2

Copyright 2006 Pamela A. Iannello