The Heart of a Servant

Serving is one of the most important yet overlooked action. It is like a fertilizer to your heart because through serving, you will learn new things and experience growth and maturity. You will also be blessed and encouraged. All these benefits are things that a person with a servant’s heart can receive. However, what does this heart look like?

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” – Romans 12:1.

The heart of a servant is a surrendered heart position. Since we take a place of surrender in the heart, we are to serve as a living sacrifice. Jesus served us with His life so that we may be saved. Put yourself aside because service is sacrifice and sacrifice isn’t about itself. Sacrifice is giving something up for something else. Jesus gave Himself up for us. We serve by giving up our feelings, time, and desires so that we may be able and willing to serve someone else which in turn blesses them.

“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 13:3.

Serving is 90% heart and motive, and 10% action and skill. Your heart is everything when it comes to serving. Sure, if you serve with the wrong heart but still accomplish the action, you do bless them with that action. However, how much greater could you bless someone if you do it with the right heart? Serving with a heart of love will change and bless those around you. Remember, serving isn’t about you, it is about those around you. So, bless those around you with God’s kind of love. Not only do you show love and honor what you are doing, but you also act in obedience. Serving without the right heart is disobedience. When you disobey delegated authority, you disobey God because that is the authority God placed over you to serve. Don’t serve with bad intent and the wrong heart position. Disobedience will get you nowhere in your life and relationship with God. If you serve because you want people to see you and you want recognition, then you will be hidden. But those who serve regardless of who sees them or not are the ones whom the Father in heaven sees and will reward. Those are the people who will be seen because people see their heart to serve selflessly. Those are the ones given more.

“But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” – Matthew 6:3-4.

When you serve out of force and pressure to do something, you serve with the heart of valuing your desires more than what you serve. Your heart is focused on what you would rather be doing rather than what you are doing at the current moment. Your focus is off of serving which means you won’t really care about how well things are done and if they are done right. Love won’t be shown, and light won’t glisten off of you. So much so, that you may even be a burden because you are rubbing off negativity and bad attitudes. People are always going to be fixing mistakes that could have easily been avoided by caring out of love. So overall, your heart position will determine how you serve and what you receive when serving. The right heart position will allow you to bless others and be blessed by living out of love. God sees the heart because the heart is where the treasure remains at. Keep your heart in the true treasure and riches of serving out of Christ’s love.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Luke 12:34.