The Believer’s Responsibility: Serve One Another
Jen and I were so excited about our 10th Anniversary vacation.
We had not taken more than a night away from our kids since starting a family 5 years prior, and we were looking forward to a restful time together. Plus, the trip promised to be incredible!
We were going on a cruise to the Caribbean and had some fabulous excursions planned. From horseback riding along the beaches in Jamaica to swimming with the sting rays in Grand Cayman, it promised to be a glorious and romantic time.
Only, it wasn’t any of that. A few factors came into play that made the entire trip more of a learning opportunity than a romantic vacation. You see, being a youth pastor with a young family, I naturally booked the cruise during the most economical time of the year—hurricane season! And, about a month prior to the cruise, Jen said to me one night, “Guess what? I’m pregnant!
In case you didn’t know… if you put an unmedicated, nauseous, pregnant woman onto a ship in the middle of a hurricane, the romantic factor decreases significantly. Not only that, but the hurricane caused the captain to divert course, so all our excursions were canceled.
After 40 hours without a stop, we made it to San Juan where I remember standing on the docks with Jen who was in tears and repeatedly saying, “Please don’t make me get back on that ship!”
I told her that I would go get our bags, check us out of the ship and that we could find a hotel and fly home. But Jen was able to overcome the dread of getting back on the ship, so we planned to continue and see what happened—after first making a phone call to check on our daughters. We learned that our Becca had hurt her arm three days prior and kept waking up in the night crying. We encouraged my parents to take her to the doctor and in our follow-up phone call the next night, we heard 3-year-old Becca say, “Mommy, I bwoke my awm!”
With all that going on, there was another aspect at the beginning of the trip that was terrible… my attitude! Selfishly, I was disappointed. It was not the way I had envisioned our trip, and I was wallowing in it. But one night, after a dinner of all-I-could-eat delicacies while watching my dear wife munch on Saltines, the Lord confronted me. He said, “Hey Studt.” (I always know I’m in for correction when He calls me by my last name). He continued: “You have a choice. You can stay self-centered and continue your pity party, or you can choose to be a servant and help your wife through this trial. You can’t do both. Remember your marriage verse?”
Our marriage verse is from Philippians 2 where Paul says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ‘Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant… he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:3-8, NIV)
The world, the flesh, and the devil tell us that our needs and desires are most important and that our every want should be fulfilled. But that is simply not consistent with reality.
Paul wrote Philippians while he was in jail. In the midst of difficult circumstances, Paul encourages the church to be unselfish and put others above themselves. His focus in chapter one was that his imprisonment “served to advance the gospel” (vs. 12) and strengthen other believers (vs. 13). Even though his circumstances were dire enough to make him write, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Phil. 1:23b, ESV), he was willing to continue to serve the Lord by serving the Church. He challenged the believers to “live a life worthy of the gospel… standing firm in one spirit… striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” (Phil. 1: 27, ESV) This was how they were to live during suffering.
After God got my attention, I went on to confess my sinful attitude and apologize to Jen. From then on, even through the tears and disappointing circumstances, we were able to laugh together as I sought to serve her and make our trip as enjoyable as possible.
Dear Saints, when life doesn’t go as you hoped, do you tend toward self-centeredness? Or are you willing to sacrificially serve others? It’s not easy, that’s for sure. Yet we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus not only set us the example, but he also enables us to have the same attitude he had.
Do you know what the best part is? Since it is so contrary to our flesh, sacrificial service can only be accomplished by God’s power. As you choose service, may you point to Jesus as the source so that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11)
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.