Threshold

2 Cor.8:⁵ “They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.”

God is not a resource or a commodity – God is our Father and Master. When we see God as our Father and Master, and we love God and serve Him as we ought, serving people becomes natural. Why? Our service stems from how we see and relate to God. It becomes natural for us to serve people. If you cannot serve the people that you can see, you cannot serve a God that you cannot see. It is so intertwined. If you cannot love people that you can see, you cannot love a God that you cannot see. In the Church, you sing, “I love You Lord and I lift my voice…”; you get emotional and shed tears. But you do not love and serve the people you do life with at home or work – there is something wrong with that. How then can you claim to love God? Loving God may start with loving God alone, but it usually finds expression in loving and serving people.

How do you think we can fulfill Christ’s command to be servants without becoming exhausted and resentful?

I know that people will always ride a willing horse. When people see that someone has chosen to serve, sometimes they will take advantage. However, the question is how do we serve and love people without getting burnt-out or resentful, even when people take advantage of us? I want to encourage you to wrestle with this question. You will discover that it will lead you to make some advance decisions and God will help you in Jesus Name. My advice for everyone who serves is, develop tough skin but maintain a soft heart. If you are not in pain, you are not leading. ‘Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth is a really powerful book by Sam Chand, and I recommend that you read it.

Your leadership capacity is directly proportional to the amount of pain you can bear. If you cannot stand the pain of people speaking to you rudely, you cannot serve because people will talk to you rudely. If you do not have the capacity to remain calm when you are being disrespected, then you cannot serve because people will disrespect you. Your pain threshold is actually a big part of your leadership threshold. Great leaders have an amazing capacity for pain. Most mediocre people, average people run from or avoid pain altogether. Meanwhile, great leaders embrace it as part of the journey.

Please read Mark 10:42-45 and spend some time thinking about and journaling about the lessons in serving revealed in the scripture.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I give myself to You so that in loving and serving You, I will have the capacity to love and serve Your People, in Jesus Name. Amen!