Another Example of Serving
As you know, I often write about how I (or my family or friends) serve others. For the latest example, see my previous post “More Than Meals.”
I’ve taken some heat for this before. Occasionally, someone will point out that Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1 ESV) First of all, I think that Jesus was talking about serving with a motivation of being seen by others. In other words, I’ll do this so that other people will see me serving and then they’ll think better of me (or whatever).
We must remember that Jesus also said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 ESV) So, while we must always check our motivation, we should also be willing to serve openly in a way that will urge others to glorify God.
I think we need to see more and more examples of serving. We need to see these as examples to follow and examples that will encourage, challenge, even admonish us toward demonstrating love and good works.
For this reason, I’m glad that Lionel at “A View of the Woods” has shared an example of how he has been serving the elderly in his community for the past year in a post called “What You Do To The Least of These: Lend A Helping Hand.” (Apparently Lionel likes long post titles, too.)
I hope you read Lionel’s post and look at the pictures that he has posted. If you are not involved in serving “the least” (particularly those who cannot serve or love you back), then I hope that Lionel’s example is an encouragement and admonishment for you. Why? Because if you are following Jesus then you will be caring for “the least.”
If you are involved in serving the least, then use Lionel’s example as an opportunity to praise God for working through another one of his children to show his love to the world!