Fight For a Servant's Heart

It is so easy to be selfish. In fact, it is like my children sometimes say to me when confronted about some particular sin, "I didn't mean to. I didn't even try to!" That is a very accurate description of most of our selfishness. We may not consciously mean to think of ourselves to the neglect of others. We probably didn't expend any energy in trying to be selfish last time that we were guilty of it. It is such a part of our nature that we do it without effort, and with great ease. But just set out to live unselfishly and you will find that it will not happen without prayer, dependence upon the Lord, and a focused mind, filled with the Word of God.

One of my favorite verses is from 1 Corinthians 5:15, and says, "...and He died for all that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." Christ says that we are to stop living for ourselves, and instead make living for Him the pursuit of our lives. His example should be all the motivation that we need to strive to obey Him. He set aside His glory with the Father to come to Earth and secure salvation for us through his death on the cross! Isn't that a glorious thought to ponder!

So, what does that look like fleshed out in real life? Well, for me, I know that it means praying for the strength to keep serving even after I've met need after need all day long. Just having people around assaults our desire to please ourselves. That's why caring for a houseful of children is such a sanctifying endeavor. They have constant needs! And Mommy is the one called to meet them!

And then beyond that, at the end of the day when my husband comes home, I know it is God's desire that I serve him, too. It is a privilege and a blessing that I will miss if my attitude is, "Sorry, I've clocked out for the day, 'cause I've been serving since I got up!"

I am painfully aware that to have an unselfish attitude requires God's work in my heart, because it is not naturally in me. Thank God for His Holy Spirit that He has sent to live in the hearts of those who are in Christ. He enables us to do the works that bring Him glory. Serving others surely pleases Him.

This is my earnest prayer for my kids, that as adults they will have the heart of a servant. That they will see themselves as slaves to Christ, looking for ways to live for His glory by meeting the needs of those around them.

God must do this work in the lives of our children, too. We can train them, set the example for them, exhort them to do it, but God must change them, giving them eyes to see beyond their own needs and desires to others. We must commit to pray for them until we see the Lord do this.

Some days I really have to fight to live unselfishly. But it does help me when I remember who I am serving....the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed His own blood to purchase us and make us His. I am not my own.