Developing A Servants Heart

Part 1

Developing A Servants Heart

Part 1

Tonight we start a series on a Servant’s heart. We are servants of God. What does that mean and what does that look like.

If you are wondering why servants…

2 Peter 1:1 NIV

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

2 Peter 1:1

“Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ”

2 Peter 1:1 NIV

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

“James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”

“Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ”

“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle”

The Greek word that is generally translated as “bondservant” in the New Testament is a word that was also used to refer to the “lower rowers” – the galley slaves who were kept in chains below the decks of large ships. They did the exhausting, difficult, and unseen work of rowing vessels across the seas and through the storms. There is nothing about this image that brings about the praise and admiration of others, since the work goes mostly unrecognized and unrewarded by mankind.

The disciples fully embraced their role as servants. They knew this to be their calling and identity, not because they were leaders of the church, but because they were following in the steps of Jesus Christ, the first and foremost Servant of God. We are called to be servants today, and to have the heart of a servant as our hallmark, regardless of the area in which we serve the church or the role that we fill. Servanthood is to be our attitude and our motivation as we follow Christ Jesus our Lord.

matthew 20:25-28

25. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.

26. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.

27. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—

28. just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

A person with a genuine servant’s heart is a person who has three attributes:

1. A True Servant does not Demand Recognition

A servant is willing to remain in the shadows or the “lower galleys.” The servant gives without acknowledgement; in fact, he is willing to give so that nobody knows who has done the giving. Jesus had strong words about those who try hard to receive the praise of other people. He taught:

1. “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

The reward received by those who seek praise from people is just that and only that—praise from people. Such praise comes and goes very quickly; the approval of people is very fickle and often fleeting. God’s praise and blessings, on the other hand, are reserved for those who serve others without any expectation of recognition or praise from people.

I am amazed at people who will not do something if they will not get credit or recognition for it. Where are we? Do we need to have recognition?

2. A True Servant does not Demand Reward

A servant gives without expecting anything in return from the person that he has served. True servanthood is void of manipulation or a desire to control others.

Joseph was a favored servant in the household of the Egyptian Potiphar, who “left all that he had in Joseph’s hand” ().

Our role as a bondservant of Christ Jesus is of a similar nature. Jesus Christ is our Lord. He is our Master, our Ruler, and our Owner. He is the One who has redeemed our lives from death. He is the One from whom we take our daily orders and from whom we receive all that we need. His is the One who has entrusted us to conduct spiritual business in His name.

A genuine servant knows that he has all that he needs in Christ Jesus, all that is truly important, all that is desirable and of value. When we give, we will receive. But what comes back to us will be from God’s hand and at God’s command. We are to expect to receive from God not because we have given, but because God is faithful in providing for His children.

3. A True Servant does not Demand Self-Rights

A servant has a “yielded” spirit, both to God and to others. A servant will stand up for what is right in God’s eyes, but a person with a genuine servant’s heart does not insist that he have his own way. A servant “yields the right of way” to others, or as Paul wrote, “giving preference to one another” ().

20. giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

21. submitting to one another in the fear of God.

We are to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and our neighbors as ourselves. It is out of love that we serve. In fact, service is the manifestation of love. If you love, but you do not give to a person and are not generous in your service to that person, on what grounds can you truly say that you love? Service is the evidence of genuine love. It is love in action.

37. Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38. This is the first and great commandment.

39. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Many people only give lip service to Servanthood. They say that they are servants, want to be servants, or wish that they were better servants. The truth is, we can all grow in our desire, ability, and effectiveness as servants. We must, however, actually be servants—not just talk about being servants. James said:

22. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;

24. for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

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 time again, Jesus said to those whom He had helped, “Don’t tell anyone what has happened.”

God has called us to serve others just as Jesus served others. He didn’t save you or call you to service so that you might be exalted. He saved you so that you might serve others and bring praise and honor to God’s Holy name.