The Truth About Being Servant-hearted
Corinthians 9:19 ‘…I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more.’
Serving is helping people at personal cost to ourselves. It involves sacrifice. Those who have understood the power of serving other people can tell this story repeatedly. When we serve others by meeting their needs and healing their hurts, we are effective in connecting them with God. Visible love opens invisible hearts. Instead of selling Jesus, we should try serving Him to people. Instead of just witnessing to people, we need to be a witness. Francis of Assisi said, ‘Witness all the time, and if necessary, use words’.
Serving is the highest level of meaningfulness for anyone’s life. The meaning of life is easy to find if we simply serve others. A life without service is doomed to decay. The great violinist Nicolo Paganini willed his marvellous violin to the city of his birth, Genoa, on the condition that the instrument never again be played. It was an unfortunate condition, for it is a peculiarity of wood that as long as it is used and handled, it shows little wear. As soon as it is discarded, it begins to decay. The exquisite, mellow-toned violin has become worm-eaten in its beautiful case, valueless except as a relic. Paganini’s mouldering instrument is a reminder that a life withdrawn from all service to others loses its meaning.
Let me identify qualities of a servant demonstrated by Rebekah, the wife of Abraham’s son Isaac. Rebekah lived a beautiful life of servanthood. She never dreamed how her serving heart would open the greatest doors of her life, but she discovered that serving opens doors of destiny.
Genesis 24:18-20 ‘“Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’LL DRAW WATER FOR YOUR CAMELS TOO, UNTIL THEY HAVE FINISHED DRINKING.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.’
Rebekah doesn’t complain that she has just been down the well to get water for herself. She offers to get the man some water but she also offers to water his camels, even though the well was deep (around fifty steps would have descended to the water).
A camel can drink twenty-five gallons of water in one sitting. Ten camels make for the possibility of two hundred and fifty gallons. Even if Rebekah had managed to carry five gallons up the steps each time, it could have taken her as many as fifty trips up and down the steps. Notwithstanding the effort required, she is keen! Unbeknownst to Rebekah, this man, Eliezer, has just prayed that the woman who offers not just to satisfy his request for water but also to water his camels would be the woman destined for his master Abraham’s son, Isaac.
Serving is an issue of the heart. Rebekah wanted to bless the man. She had no idea that there would be any reward for her efforts. Money can easily steal the heart. Once we receive money for what we once did freely from the heart, our willingness and enthusiasm can be compromised. In 1 Peter 5:2 Peter calls on us to serve the Lord with our hearts, not for money. Serving is its own pleasure. It is not motivated by any other reward.
Energy springs from willingness. Ask children to do something they don’t want to, like clean their room, and nothing happens! They become like sloths—cute but slow. But tell them you’re off to McDonalds and they’re like streaked lightning, sitting in the car even before you finish the sentence. We are energised when our will is engaged. Fatigue follows the unwilling. We are tired when we’re doing what we don’t want to do. If we’d always rather be elsewhere, we’ll never enjoy where we are right now. If we’d rather be doing something else, we won’t have the energy or focus for what we’re doing right now. Aligning our will and our action is basic to successful living.
The willing heart is
Impelled rather than compelled. Motivation comes from within rather than from some external pressure outside us. ‘People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing; that’s why we recommend it daily’ (Zig Ziglar).
Agreeable, not disagreeable. We all think of the ‘other point of view’ in a conversation, but we decide to focus on points of agreement rather than the points we disagree with. How painful is it when you’re trying to hold a pleasant conversation with a disagreeable person? It’s just hard work. The willing heart finds ways to agree and flow with people. Beth Laurie says, ‘Agreeing to agree is a key to astonishing teamwork’.5
Executing, not excusing. The willing heart finds reasons to do, rather than reasons not to do. People with excuses reveal an unwilling attitude. Billy Sunday defined an excuse as ‘the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie’. The person who is good at excuses is usually not good at anything else.
This is just one aspect of many on being a servant hearted leader and leading with excellence. My book Leadership Excellence talks more about how our capacity as leaders is determined by our capacity to serve. The leader serves not just God but people. Our strength of influence is directly proportionate to our level of submission not just to God, but also to those people whom God places in our world. If you’d like to read more on this, check out Leadership Excellence in our online store here.
I hope that this blog blesses you today. Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments or over on my instagram, @philpringle.
