Words to Grow On

Archive Devotions

September 20, 2004

"A Serving Friend"

By:

Gladys DeMichael

"Serve one another in love."

Galatians 5:13b (NIV)

As Americans, competition and rivalry seem to be in our blood. From early childhood, we learn that we must be better than others. American culture is, unfortunately, extremely self-centered.

Servanthood is one of the most important lessons for Christians to learn. New Christians often have misconceptions of what it means to be a servant. Being a servant does not mean abandoning ourselves in such a way that we lose our individuality, personality and giftedness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, when we give ourselves as a servant to the Lord, the opposite is true. He makes us full and complete. He encourages us through our serving to be all that we can be. His gift of His Holy Spirit empowers us to become so.

As Christian friends, journeying together, we are all both gifted and needy. As we serve each other, we are expressing God's love. It's incredible! The more we lovingly serve, the more we are becoming like Him, and the unique self He created us to be. The choice is ours to be a serving friend.

Prayer

I am grateful, my loving God, for my arena of service; a place to flesh out loving servanthood in the midst of daily living. Keep me from self-centeredness. I rejoice that the 'me' is truly

becoming your design and person.

Amen

  Editors Note:

The following devotional was written for "heart preparation" for the women attending a "Journey in Grace" Women's Conference in 1998.