A Man of God Loves and Serves Others
Imagine dining at your favorite restaurant. Instead of your waitress asking what you would like to eat, she sits down next to you and asks, “Could you get me a glass of tea?” You’re now confused and don’t know what to say. Then the waitress speaks again; “While you’re at it, can you bring me some bread and a salad too?” Wait a minute. Who is supposed to be serving who?
We’ve all spent too much of our lives putting our needs and wants above everyone else’s. However, men of God realize that life isn’t about being served. It’s about serving others as a way to show our love.
Part 1: A Man of God Loves Others
We learned in lesson one that God loves us, and we should love Him too. Jesus called it the “most important command.” He then went on to tell us the second most important.
Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and most important command. And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.” -Matthew 22:37-40
God doesn’t just expect us to love Him, He also expects us to love our neighbors. That’s not just talking about the people who live next door. “Neighbors” refers to our friends and the people we share our lives with. Why do you think God cares whether we love each other?
Once again, imagine being at a restaurant. This time, instead of talking to the waitress, you get to meet the chef who made your entire dinner. You tell him, “I really think you’re great, but I hate your food.” How do you think he’ll react?
God is the Creator. He loves and takes great pride in His creation. In fact, the Bible says…
God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. -Genesis 1:27
Imagine telling an artist how much you hate his self-portrait. Even worse, imagine telling your best friend, “Your kid looks and acts just like you. Don’t take it personally, but I hate him.” Guess what; he’s going to take it personally!
Jesus explained further that it’s impossible to truly love God if you don’t love others.
“If people say, “I love God,” but hate their brothers or sisters, they are liars. Those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have never seen. And God gave us this command: Those who love God must also love their brothers and sisters.” -1 John 4:20-21
“Brothers and Sisters” in the Bible usually refers to our Christian family. However, whether God is talking about other believers or our actual siblings, the point is the same. You can’t hate them and love God. Remember, God is love. If we love God, we should love our biological brothers and sisters because we share a bloodline and childhood memories. We should also love our Christian brothers and sisters because we share the most important thing people can have in common… our love for God. Jesus told his followers to love each other in a way that people would know they were His.
“I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.”- John 13:34-35
Isn’t that awesome? Imagine a complete stranger coming up to you and saying, “I can tell you’re a Christian, because I see the way you love others.”
Along with loving our neighbors and our brothers and sisters, the Bible tells us…
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it to make it belong to God. -Ephesians 5:25
A husband’s love for his wife is compared to how much Jesus loves Christians. He sacrificed Himself for us. In what ways should husbands be willing to sacrifice ourselves for our wives?
So far, this doesn’t sound too tough. Maybe it’s easy to love our friends, family, and wives. However, God also asked us to do something that is extremely difficult.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemies.’ But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven.” -Matthew 5:43-45
Some people think we’re supposed to hate and hurt our enemies. However, God’s way is different. Jesus said it’s easy to love our friends and family. Men of God are supposed to go further and look different than people who don’t care about godly living.
If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don’t know God are nice to their friends. So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. -Matthew 5:46-48
PART 1 - SUMMARY: GOD WANTS US TO LOVE EVERYBODY. THAT'S WHAT MAKES CHRISTIANS STAND OUT.
Part 2: A Man of God Serves Others
We’ve talked a lot about love. What does love look like?
It’s important to understand that we're not talking about romance. Romantic love is a feeling. Sure, there is a right time for a man to express romantic love for his wife. However, the love a Christian shows his family, friends, coworkers, and even his enemies is more than a feeling. We can look to Christ’s example and notice two key ingredients to the kind of love we should be practicing.
Jesus wasn’t satisfied just feeling love for us. His love was active. He did something with His love.
Jesus practiced humility by serving us. That means he put our needs before His own desires.
That’s what our love should look like: ACTIVE SERVICE.
“When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves.” -Philippians 2:3
“Do not look out only for yourselves. Look out for the good of others also.” -1 Corinthians 10:24
Think about lunchtime when you were in school. Were you ever so hungry that you cut in line? Sure, there was enough food for everybody, but you couldn’t wait. You didn’t care how hungry other people were, and you didn’t care how long they’ve been waiting. All you cared about was getting fed. In fact, if you were sneaky enough, you might have found a way to get two trays before some people even got one. Did you know that same behavior often happens in prison? Why do you think that might be?
Christians learn to love in a way that seeks to serve others before or more than ourselves. So, instead of cutting in line or trying to eat before everybody else, we might hold the door open and say, “You first.” Before going back for seconds, we make sure everyone else has had their share.
A great motto worth remembering to represent our new attitude towards serving others is:
“I AM THIRD!” That means when making decisions, I’ll put God first, everyone else second, myself third. The I AM THIRD mentality means we act less on what we want to do and more about what needs to be done. It means we look for opportunities to help people. Thinking about ourselves last may sound like a miserable life, but it will actually build some great relationships while also glorifying God.
The idea of serving probably doesn’t sound as exciting or important as leading. At least, that’s what some of Jesus’ closest friends and followers thought.
Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. When they went into a house there, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But the followers did not answer, because their argument on the road was about which one of them was the greatest. Jesus sat down and called the twelve apostles to him. He said, “Whoever wants to be the most important must be last of all and servant of all.” Mark 9:33-35
If you think about it, that’s exactly what Jesus did.
“The Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”-Mark 10:45
That’s right. Jesus was a servant, but how? In what way did Jesus serve others?
Let’s remember that Jesus is called the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15). He deserves the comforts of royalty. Therefore, every miracle, teaching, and blessing he provided here on earth is a form of serving his fellow man. One of Jesus’ acts of service was especially humbling. Read John 13:1-15
Why would the Son of God wash these common men’s feet?
CONCLUSION
If we love God, we’ll strive to love every person and serve them before serving ourselves.