Theme of the Week: Servant Leadership
Bible Verse: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36–40 NLT
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34–40; John 3:16, 13:34–35, 15:12–13; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:14–15
No one can properly relate to God until they first encounter His love. The Bible says God loved us so much He sent His Son Jesus on a mission of love to reach us (John 3:16). Jesus spent His life demonstrating that love and then died to prove that love (Romans 5:8). When we respond to Jesus as Saviour, we become recipients of all that love at salvation.
When Jesus was pressed on the issue of which commandment was most important, He declared the first commandment – the one about loving God. He then immediately added that the second commandment was equally important – the one about loving our neighbor. Jesus wants us to learn how to reflect God’s love towards others. He was saying it’s impossible to love God without loving others the way God loves them.
When we serve our neighbor, we are demonstrating God’s love. The Apostle James referred to this 2nd commandment as the “royal law” (James 2:8). Maybe because the very act of practicing it brings a regal-like quality to our relationships; love at this level is an act befitting royalty. You have heard the common phrase, “they treated me like trash”. The opposite of that would be loving someone like royalty. This is what God’s love does – it elevates, it dignifies, and it inspires. In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul lists some of the qualities of this God kind of love (agape). All of them are necessary if you plan to improve your serve.
- Love…is patient and kind
- Love…isn’t jealous or sings its own praises
- Love…is not arrogant or rude
- Love…does not insist on its own way
- Love…is not irritable or keep track of wrongs
- Love…isn’t happy when injustice is done but is happy with the truth
- Love…never stops being patient, believing, or hoping, and it never gives up
This is what God’s kind of love looks like. If you want to reflect God’s love by serving others, this is what the reflection should look like.
Prayer: Father, help me love others the way you have loved me. Increase my capacity to love deeply enough to serve, even under difficult circumstances. Increase my love for my neighbor and help me learn how to treat them in a way that pleases you, for their good and your glory. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Reflection: It’s difficult to serve well if you are trying to fuel your serve with something other than love. God calls us to love people just as much as He calls us to love Him. Do you avoid people, so you don’t have to “get involved”? Do you see your neighbors as people needing your help?
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