There are many reasons why we don’t choose to serve when we should. Over the next few weeks we will be looking at some of these reasons. This week we will be looking at timidity. This is the one I struggle with the most. Sometimes we see the need, we want to fulfill it, but we just can’t work ourselves up to doing it. We talk ourselves out of it by saying things like “the person probably wouldn’t really want the help”, or “if they needed help they would ask,” or “I wouldn’t do a good job helping anyway”.the list could go on forever. We are afraid to get out of our comfort zones and DO something. I read somewhere that “faith is action based on belief.” James says faith without action is dead. When we let out timidity keep us from serving, we are weakening our faith. We are putting our desire for comfort over our desire for Christlikeness.
“Spiritual maturity is directly proportional to Christ-centeredness. To be more preoccupied with the subjective benefits of the faith than with the person and pleasure of Christ is a mark of immaturity. The Spirit bears witness to and glorifies Jesus Christ; spiritual experiences, whether personal or corporate, should center on Christ and not ourselves. The tendency of some people and movements to glorify the gifts of the Giver more than the Giver of the gifts is incompatible with Biblical portrait of the ministry of the Holy Spirit”- Kenneth Boa Conformed to His Image, p.294
Every day this week I would like us to serve someone we don’t know. This may be something as simple as letting someone on the tram ahead of you or as time consuming as walking with someone to carry their basket. I know, that we are not always in control of the opportunities for service, especially when we are serving people who are unknown to us. But, I believe that if we look and pray for these opportunities, they will present themselves. This assignment will call all of us to step out of our comfort zones and look toward other people. I pray that good results from these acts of service and that good will spur us on to greater boldness for His Kingdom.
So, your assignment:
-Pray for service opportunities
-Daily serve someone you don’t know
-Bring a list of these services to the next meeting