Our school’s mission statement states that we want to partner with our parents in preparing our students for college and a life of service to our Lord and to their particular assigned community in which He places them. Our Lord has blessed us in the first part of our mission. Developing a “servant’s heart” means fighting against a strong cultural mind-set which promotes “looking out for #1”. This mind-set can only be successful when we let God renew our minds by the reading and heeding of His Word. Jesus set the tone for us when He said in Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve.” The “for even” part of that statement speaks of His pre-eminence or supremacy. Colossians 1:16 proclaims that all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him, all things hold together. Jesus chose to put all of this aside and serve others. Philippians 2 talks of how Jesus emptied Himself of His glorious majesty as He humbled Himself to a terrible criminal’s death to give a lost world God’s greatest gift: His sacrificial, atoning death for their sins. Knowing this we still have the audacity to think it is all about us and we deserve to be waited on hand and foot! Speaking of feet, wasn’t it Jesus who performed the lowly task of washing His disciples feet instead of demanding that he should be pampered by them?
As we just finished our special high school week of Project S.H.I.N.E. (Serving Him on Neighborhoods Everywhere), we need to be sure that we have the right perspective – which is always God’s perspective. Here are two key points:
- This is not a “one-shot” do a good deed kind of thing. It is instead a way of life for believers. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us to do.” This verse is clearly teaching us that God is constantly handing out job assignments for us to demonstrate His workmanship in our lives. He wants us to respond to life situations with “How can I help?” as opposed to “Why should I lift a finger to help them?”. Every day God is giving us opportunities to show the world the difference He is making in our lives.
- This leads in to what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” The key phrase is “so shine”. People must see that this is clearly God who is at work in us and He deserves all the credit. It has got to be more than something done by a nice person. It can not be something that we have mustered up to make us look good. There are many people who do good things in their own strength to try to tip the balance with God for salvation. Salvation has nothing to do with works (Eph. 2:8, 9) besides, our best efforts are considered filthy rags in God’s sight (Isa. 64:6). We need to show that the radiant light that is shining in our lives is clearly of God’s doing. How do we do this? Just get out of His way and let Him shine through each of us.
How do we know if we do have a servant’s heart? I remember reading a quote about this question many years ago and it has stuck with me ever since.
“You know you have a “servant’s heart” when you respond the right way when you are treated like one (servant).”
Our goal is to make a big difference in many peoples’ lives. First, to the people we are helping. We want to assure them of God’s love and care. To the many sponsors that invested in Project SHINE, we want them to receive a special blessing for their support in this area. We want them to be rich toward God because of what He is doing in and through us. Finally, we want those who participated in SHINE service this past week to trust God’s leading and be more sensitive to perform the good works when, how, where God presents! What we really want is a servant’s heart just like our Savior’s. Then we know that people will glorify our Father. What could be better than that!?
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