“Servant Leadership”
It is a new day, full of opportunities to love, serve and glorify our Father in Heaven. Let me encourage you; don’t live today with regrets from yesterday and don’t live today looking into the future. Determine in your heart to enjoy today, to live this day to its fullest. Don’t let yesterday or tomorrow steal what God has for you today!
We need to pay close attention to the scripture today, it is written in red! Jesus is rebuking John and James when they asked Him to sit at His side in heaven. But like always Jesus then turns His teaching to everyone who will listen and read it. This is a powerful teaching and it is in direct conflict with the world’s ways and attitude. But as followers of Jesus we are new creations, we are not to follow the ways of this world.
Mark 10:43-45
But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The context of this verse was addressing Jesus’s disciples, (leaders). Before you begin to think, “I am not a leader, so this does not apply to me.” You are a leader, I assure you, you are leading someone. Dad, you are leading your family, mom, you are leading your children, children you are leading a younger brother, sister or maybe a cousin. The truth is we are all leading in some capacity.
In verse 23 Jesus tells us, “among you it will be different.” Don’t ignore this simple statement and principle. As a follower of Jesus we will be different. We will be willing to put the needs of others first, we will be willing to serve others in love. Jesus made a bold statement, I assure you it grabbed the attention of everyone listening. He said, “whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave to everyone else.” Listen, slavery was real during this time in history. Everyone knew what the life of a slave looked like. I am not thinking anyone was striving to be a slave. On the contrary most people were striving to be first, to be leaders.
Jesus then assures them, He did not come to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom. I am sure that at this time most people didn’t totally understand what Jesus was saying, but they would! Jesus did not only teach these words, His life was a constant demonstration of these words. Jesus humbled Himself and served others in love. Notice Jesus did not serve out of obligation or to receive something. Jesus served out of His everlasting love for others.
My friends we must be willing to humble ourselves under God’s mighty power (His love for us). When we do, serving others in love will not be a task, obligation or an agenda. It will flow from the love we have received from Jesus our Savior! Let us serve one another in love so that the world will know we are Christ’s disciples!
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