8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:8 – 11)
We have now considered six Disciplines: Bible Study, Spiritual Warfare, Prayer, Fasting, worship, and fellowship. This week we will focus on Service and Stewardship, starting with Service.
Service is a wonderful discipline that can go terribly wrong if our focus is misplaced (e.g., focussing on self-glory versus glorifying God). Over the next three days we will discuss three concepts, which should help us with the right focus: 1) Seeking God’s Glory; 2) Seeing Things the Way Jesus Does; and 3) Sharing God’s Glory.
Seeking God’s Glory
Someone once said, “Service sounds like a great idea until you realize you have to serve people.” Serving people can quite a challenge. No wonder Paul says, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” We referenced portions of the passage above last week during our discussion of fellowship. The passage is also very relevant to our discussion of service. Please read the entire passage above and consider the question below.
Question:
If we focus on seeking God’s glory, how will our perspective on serving others be impacted?