A Servant's Heart

Sometimes I wake up in the morning thinking people owe me something.

Paul tells the Thessalonians that "with the help of our God we dared to tell you His gospel in spite of strong opposition." The "strong opposition" that he faced was being roughed up a bit and thrown in jail in Philippi. He then goes on to mention that his motives were pure and he wasn't trying to trick anyone, but he doesn't really care what they think of him. Verse 6 says: "We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else." He cared little about their gratitude or praise. He believed he was entrusted to spread the Gospel and man's approval or gratitude was none of his concern. His attitude comes off as somewhat flippant, unless you think about "why" he did what he did. Why he was spreading the Gospel in Thessalonica. Why?: because his desire to please God far outweighed his desire for the approval of man. He deeply desired to demonstrate his own love for Jesus by telling people about Him. If you gave him praise or blame, it made no difference.

I catch myself wanting the gratitude of others. My students at school, they need to know what I have done for them, that I'm doing them a favor, or I'm cutting them a break. Serenity, did you notice that I cleaned the entire kitchen and picked up the house? My desire is to gain some sort of approval by the gratitude of men (and women).

If my desire is to serve people so that I can then gain some sort of gratitude in return, I will be wasting my time. As Oswald Chambers writes: "If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men."

When I am searching for gratitude in my servant-hood - there is not a more empty feeling, because many times, it just won't come. We will look for our identity, our reflection in other men, and we won't find it, or at least we won't find what we want to see. However, when I have Christ and his love for me as the reason for my service there is no greater joy, and that is when we begin to reflect Christ. Service is not toil and labor; it is freedom, and joy. I can honestly say that I have had more fun under the Burnside Bridge than just about anywhere else in Portland, and the entire time, in "service" to those who owe me nothing.