“She lived for herself, and died alone.” {and other epitaphs you don’t want on your tombstone!}

We are talking about how we want to be remembered when we die, so that we can live intentionally today.

Would you think it was strange if I told you that in 2012 my New Year’s resolution was to be a servant?

Not very glamorous in today’s world–actually, totally crazy, according to modern culture.

Nobody wants to serve. We like everything “our way,” from our burgers to our coffee.

Even Christians today fall victim to this world’s “celebrity mindset”. We forget that we are called to serve, not to be superstars. What a shame, because that is the opposite of what Jesus tells us to do:  serve one another in love  and submit to one another.

Two example of servants stick out in my mind.

One girl in particular while I was in college, who DID for others. She worked on campus cleaning the dorm bathrooms to help pay her tuition. She was always cheerful.  I, on the other hand, had my tuition paid for by my parents. One day, while I was getting ready to go on a date, I dropped mascara down the front of my white eyelet shirt. I was aggravated {can you say not cheerful?? lol} because it was *brand spanking new*. (spoiled brat that I was!!) That girl scrubbed my shirt by hand until it came clean! I didn’t ask her. I hardly even knew her. It didn’t upset her that I had new clothes and that she was on the work-study program. She served me. I will never forget her example.

The other example is the life of my parents. When I think of them, I think of people who DO for others.

My parents, for as long as I can remember, were deacon and deaconesses in our church(30 years or so??). They still serve today and have served for years, cooking for events, cleaning and decorating in the church, bringing meals to the sick, visiting the elderly, helping people financially, guiding and encouraging new believers. They were excellent role models of people who served others. I guess that this example is an unusual one, because it seems so rare in the church at large today. Modern Christians seem to be ever aware of their own “needs” instead of forgetting self and denying self for the good of others. And yet God commands:

Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…

Roy Hession describes it this way:

Servants serve because that is what servants do. Servants do not worry about being used because they know that the Lord is their protector. Servants know that God is always watching. Servants believe that God sees their efforts and will honor their work. Christ-centered servants live to hear these words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21,23). Servants do not condemn others for not serving: they know that except for God’s great grace, they would be self-absorbed, too. Servants want to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.

• A servant is always ready to serve. 
• A servant looks for ways to build another person up. This means that you step into the shadows so that someone else can have the limelight. This means that you push others to do things they fear they can’t do, and you support them while they try.
• A servant does not worry about his/her own needs, but is glad to meet the needs of their master. He is  so busy doing and caring for another person’s good that he hardly takes time to think about his own desires.
• A servant is characterized by humility. He is bowed low. He is accustomed to submitting to another person’s will. He does the menial and the mundane. He washes feet and caring for the lowly.
• A servant is never more like the Savior than when they are serving by doing some hidden, unseen task.

Think about the opposite of a servant. Someone with a celebrity mindset.

• A celebrity demands that “his will be done.” He has a “my way or the highway” attitude.
• A celebrity loves to be the life of the party. Always needing acceptance and acknowledgment. Also wanting center stage.
• A celebrity  avoids the menial and mundane.  He thinks he is entitled to important jobs.
• A celebrity has the “it’s all about me” mindset. He loves to be seen as the big shot – the person everyone is clamoring to be near.
• A celebrity fights to get what he wants. He submits to no one.

Our flesh craves love, understanding and significance. But when we look for these things and crave them outside of the reality of our acceptance and identity in Christ, we become very unhappy creatures. All we need is in Christ. If the whole word misunderstands you, you are still a daughter of the King. You are clothed in His righteousness. You lack nothing.

He served, and so can I. He gave, and I must too!

Even when it is unseen. (He sees!) Even when it feels mundane. (He knows!) Even when it is repetitive. (Washing dishes and changing diapers comes to mind! He rewards.)

Today’s challenge: Trade in your tiara mindset for a towel mindset.