Table of Contents
Selfless Living
For centuries people have served their nations and communities, even to the point of laying down their lives. To those of you who selflessly serve, and to the families of those who laid down their lives: thank you for your service and sacrifice!
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
When you hear the stories of gallantry, do you find yourself wishing you were part of those stories? How many find themselves living with regret, because they did not go the direction of form of service in which they felt led? Perhaps, you are one such individual. Do you still desire to live a life of meritorious service? Guess what, it’s not too late!
If you still have breath in your lungs and a beating heart, you can still serve others very well. You would be surprised at the impact you can have, even in your little corner of the planet. Yes, maybe you’ll never find yourself in a foxhole with comrades in arms. You may never pull someone out of a burning building, or come to the rescue of someone in danger, at least in the natural realm. That being said, you would still be surprised at what may lie ahead of you.
Maybe you have missed opportunities in life (most people have), but what you do from this point forward can still make a huge difference. Whatever idea of gallantry you may have, consider another one. What about one that is on a different level? Yes, the spiritual level. The way you live may actually save someone’s life, even though you may be totally unaware of it. More on that in moment. Know this, however; the natural realm is not more important than the spiritual realm. On the contrary!
Get Rid of Selfish Living
The most unfulfilling life is one of selfishness. It’s easy to point out those who are always on the take, and never contribute to society; much less, the Kingdom of God. There is another element of selfish living that is not so obvious. It’s one in which one does serve others, but it still looks for some sort of return. Affirmation, being one. How many are generous people, and everyone knows it? Hmmm. Check out Matthew 6:1-4 and see what you think.
What do you consider a good work? What does Jesus consider to be a good work?
Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Here’s the question: when doing works, who do you intend to glorify? The reason for the question is very simple: who you seek to glorify will determine whether or not they are good. There is a huge rabbit hole we could go down right here, but you get the idea without doing that. Suffice to say, doing things for God and others does feel good. Nonetheless, if we do things in order to feel good, we are not doing things for others in the purest sense, we’re doing things for ourself.
Love Leads to Meritorious Service
When it gets down to it, without love it is impossible to do good works. Everything in the Kingdom is based on love. Even faith works by love (see Galatians 5:6). Think this one out. Some might say, “What about righteousness and holiness?” If you fail to walk in love, you will fail to walk in these as well. You cannot have one without the other. Consider this: everything God does for us is based on His love.
When you walk in love with the intent to glorify God, your life changes, and positions you to impact others. Not to get too anecdotal, but some have testified that they were considering suicide, until someone smiled at them. The fact someone would smile at them, when they felt worthless and hopeless, shifted their perspective enough to reconsider their course of action. The individuals who smiled have no idea how that simple act made a difference.
When you love others well, you connect them with God’s love. God’s love saves! Walking in love leads to meritorious service.
