A Servant’s Heart – John 13:14
If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
To gain eternal treasures and a holy stature on earth, emulate Jesus Christ, for we have no greater privilege or can attain no higher honor than to put on His likeness, which transforms us in the truth. Live in the manner in which He lived; serve in the manner in which He served. Take on His holy character, and follow His example by devoting yourself to brotherly love and giving others preference over yourself. Be fervent in your service to those whom the Lord has brought into your life by birth, marriage, community, or other association.[1] As did Jesus when He knelt to wash the feet of His disciples, pour out your life in humble and tender ministrations to your fellow travelers on this earth.
By the Lord’s grace, take on a servant’s heart, a heart overflowing with kindness and love, a heart that comes from a true knowledge of Jesus Christ and the desire that flows from the purifying work of His Spirit within you.[2] Rather than merely pleasing yourself, hunger to please the Lord by obeying His Word, by bearing the burdens of the one who has need of your help, and by striving to do what is pleasing to Christ and edifying for your neighbors.[3] Through the power of the Holy Spirit, who teaches us genuine love, perform a holy ministry to others in purity, patience, kindness, and truth.[4]
In the name of Christ, from the heart of Christ, serve others to glorify your Lord and further His kingdom on the earth. Serve out of your love for God and for those made in His image. Serve out of a heart of compassion, a heart that delights in lessening another’s burden, a heart that rejoices in bringing joy to a suffering soul. Serve in obedience and faithfulness, and since the Lord tells us to anticipate the rewards He delights in giving those who honor Him, serve expecting to receive the fullness of the Father’s promise that no act of loving-kindness goes unnoticed in heaven. For in the proper time, His Majesty will call you before His throne to exalt you and to place upon your head the eternal crown of glory, which He gives to those who love Him and followed His Son’s example by serving others in His name.[5]
What have I ever done to deserve this gorgeous crown
Did You mean it for another, whose deeds were more profound
Did You intend it for the pastor, the one who led the flock
Surely, it is not for me, I come but from common stock
What is this chest of treasures doing on my floor
And was I misdirected to someone else’s door
This room within the mansion You could not intend for me
I’ve nothing to commend me, anyone can plainly see
You mean my acts of kindness You banked to my account
With each gift I gave another, my bottom line would mount
Could it be that when I served as if I were serving You
You added to the riches that in heaven I was due
I know I don’t deserve it, for loving You was my reward
For only by Your grace was it that my spirit soared
As I trusted in Your love and knelt to serve my fellow man
As I walked in faithfulness that I might carry out Your plan
I stand delirious in awe that You would bless me thus
For all I did was to allow my fragile heart to trust
Following Your precious Son, that I might be like Him
Pressing toward His glory, forgetting where I’d been
And though it seems unlikely, that I should wear a crown
I put it on with joy and lay my reservations down
At the throne of majesty, standing in Your holy light
Thanking You, Father and King, my one true heart’s delight
[1] Romans 12:10-13
[2] 2 Peter 1:5-9
[3] Colossians 1:10, Galatians 6:2, Romans 15:1-2
[4] 2 Corinthians 6:3-7
[5] Matthew 23:12, 1 Peter 5:4
