I Am Most Like Jesus When I Serve Others

The foremost characteristic of the life of Jesus Christ was and is service. We are most like Him when we serve as He served.

Many seem to think that a person is most like Jesus when he preaches like Jesus preached, teaches like Jesus taught, heals like Jesus healed, or performs miracles like Jesus performed miracles. They look only at the outward manifestation of a person’s witness and ministry.

They need to look beyond the outer manifestation to the motivation for Jesus’ life. That motivation was always service. Jesus preached, taught, healed, and performed miracles in order to help others, never to call attention to Himself. He poured out His very life so that others might be saved, never thinking for a moment to save Himself. Time and again, Jesus said to those He had healed or helped, “Don’t tell anyone what has happened.” The reason for this was that Jesus didn’t want others to respond to Him as an earthly political savior. He didn’t want them to focus on His potential to rule over them, but, rather, to focus on our loving heavenly Father and on Jesus’ role to serve humanity as Savior, Deliverer, and Redeemer.

The critical point for us to recognize is this: God has called you to serve others just as Jesus served others. He didn’t save you or call you to service so that you might be exalted, praised, glorified, or put on a pedestal. He saved you so that you might serve others and in so doing, bring praise and honor to God’s holy name.

Stanley, C. F. (1997). Developing a Servant's Heart (electronic ed.). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

BECOMING LIKE CHRIST - THROUGH HIS WORD

The word Christian means Christ like - After we get saved, we spend the rest of our lives learning how to take on the character of Christ, to become more like Him. And we learn how through His Word. Abiding in God's Word includes three activities.

God uses the Word, to teach us how to become like Him. Matthew 4:4 tells us we must feed on every word. "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Christianity is the only religion in America that is under constant attack by the secular society. The reason is, is that they know that it is the truth. Spiritual growth is the process of replacing lies of the devil, with the truth of the word. Jesus prayed in John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

Sanctification requires knowledge. And knowledge comes through the Word. The Spirit of God (Holy Spirit), uses the Word of God, to make us like the Son of God. To become like Christ, we must fill our lives with his Word. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:17, "that through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." (The Bible prepares us to do His will).

James I:18 tells us "that God gave us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made". He put us above all other creation. All of creation exists because "God said It." He spoke it all into existence. Without God's Word we would not even be alive.

The Bible is far more than a guidebook that we use for church doctrine. God's Word generates life, creates faith, produces change, frightens the Devil, causes miracles, heals hurts, builds character, changes circumstances, brings joy, overcomes adversity, defeats temptation, infuses hope, releases 
power, cleanses our minds, brings things into being, and guarantees our future forever! We cannot live without the Word of God!

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SOUND DOCTRINE

“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” 

Titus 1:9

Doctrine is a belief system that is accepted as authoritative. For followers of Jesus Christ, the Bible contains Christian doctrine that is believed, understood, and lived. Doctrine is critical because what you believe can be the difference between heaven and hell; it is critical because it determines your behavior.  Doctrine is valuable because it provides structure around faith, bolstering and encouraging you toward a lifetime of growth and learning. Doctrine is not to be feared but accepted as a support for abundant living. 

Doctrine helps you understand what you believe in a logical fashion, so you in turn, can explain it to others inside and outside of the faith. Yes, doctrine can be abused, used as a club to knock others into line. But doctrine is not designed to discourage, but to encourage. Doctrine is not meant to be an intimidator. Rather, it is designed to lovingly lead disciples toward the ways of God. Your motive for understanding and learning doctrine is that you can know God more deeply and intimately. Doctrine is not an end in itself. If your desire is to simply gain more knowledge then doctrine will work against your Christian maturity. Sound teaching also helps you discern false teachers.

GOD AUDIT

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24

Expect God to conduct a regular audit of your life. His Holy Spirit is an expert at probing beneath the surface of our actions and is able to root out unhealthy motives and habits. God’s accountability is thorough and swift. He is honest, steadfast and unbiased. I can talk myself into anything, but God holds my feet to the fire of His expectation. He searches your heart looking for payouts of forgiveness to others.

Your books do not need to be loaded up with accounts receivable that hang over others like a bad dream. God will deal with their shortcomings and the pain they have inflicted. Keep your accounts short. You have the ability in Christ to forgive others of their debt. Write off their offenses and you will build up your heavenly tax credits.

This is what we do as Christians. We forgive. We forgive because of the great mercy we have received from our heavenly Father. Another common discovery from God’s audit is fear. Our minds swirl with scenarios out of our control. Fear of failure, fear of confrontation, fear of rejection, and fear of what might happen can immobilize you. These fears birth anxious thoughts that refuse to go away. They race back and forth through your head uncontrollably.

God’s probing will put a finger on your worries, and He will remind you to trust Him.
He gently and lovingly says not to let anxiety drive you but to trust instead. He can handle whatever He uncovers in your life, and He can handle whatever you encounter in life. This is what He does as God. He is the calmer during uncertainty and the stabilizer when you face difficult circumstances. This is where you trust your heavenly auditor.
You trust God that whatever He asks you to change will be for your good and the good of others. His audit is for your benefit since He already knows His conclusions before He starts.

CALL FOR WISDOM

“This calls for wisdom.” Revelation 13:18a

Wisdom is required more often than we realize. It is wisdom that cuts through emotion and gets to the reality of the situation. “What is the wise thing to do?” is an effective question in decision-making. “What is best for the enterprise?” is a wise question to ask as it relates to business and ministry. And, many times, God speaks through money—or the lack thereof. So, if money is tight, then we need to be extremely wise with expenditures. Wisdom says to cut back on expenses and do not add additional costs. At this point it is not about lack of faith, it is about being a wise steward with what you have so that you can be trusted with more. Wise stewardship attracts generous givers.

Moreover, the crown jewel of wisdom accumulation may be the fear of the Lord. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline”(Proverbs 1:7). The fear of God positions you to receive wisdom. No fear of God means no wisdom. No wonder our world is flush with fools! We have lost our fear of God, and thus wisdom has alluded us. The fear of the Lord is an incubator for wisdom. God dispenses wisdom to those who fear Him.

HONORABLE WEALTH

Why do we honor the Lord with our wealth? We honor Him because He is the giver of all good things, the author of our abundance. As our estate grows so should the honor of our Heavenly Father. Otherwise, we are tempted to take credit for our success, and honor ourselves. The Bible says, “You may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17).

In some seasons our net worth decreases, and we are reminded that Christ controls cash flow. Wealth is not an end in itself, but the means to a greater goal of honoring God. Peace and contentment flow from wealth that honors the Lord, while fear and insecurity consumes the heart that honors itself.
So, how do you honor the Lord with your wealth? One way is to remain faithful and give Him the firstfruits of your fortune. Small or large as it may be, His primary concern is your faithfulness to give. You give out of obedience not abundance. People see Christ when you keep your cash commitments, especially when it costs you. This is honorable in heaven and on earth. Give to your church, the poor and needy, widows, orphans, family and ministries who align with your passions. You do not honor God when your thoughts are about new cars, clothes, or jewerly. Wealth is a gift from God and He expects us to be wise in its use, and like any gift it can be taken away if our motivation is selfish. The Bible says, “If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them” (Psalm 62:10b).

The results of your generous giving in the middle of downward financial pressures will be an upward blessing to you and the recipients. Your honorable use of wealth for Jesus’ sake may mean food, clothing, shelter and medical supplies for a village, or Bibles translated into the foreign tongue of a remote people half way around the world. The best time to aggressively give is when the need is the greatest. You take care of honoring Christ with generous giving, and He will take care of you. What you give now, you still have in abundance later.