Give
Service or good Works is not a mandate or requirement of the faith. It is a fruit or a result of a life saved by God and transformed for His glory.
As you are changed day by day to resemble God more and more, you will be blessed in many ways. But we are not meant to get fat on God’s blessings. We are meant to be blessed in order to be blessings to others.
Service is how you show the world that God is good and that He loves them just like He loves you. Besides, service can be somewhat selfish too (in a good way). Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
What does giving have to do with service? Plenty. When you serve, you can give of your time, your talents, your resources, your money, your wisdom, your experience, and more. But when you give to others in service you will receive a reward from God.
And know this- You cannot outgive The Giver. You will always profit from that exchange when you give/serve in the name of (on behalf of) God.
In MT. 5:13-14, We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. There is much to be said of each. But the essence is that we are to impact this world positively. Salt enhances the flavor, heals, melts, preserves. Light illuminates, attracts, warms, exposes. In acts of service, we can be salt and light for God as we engage with needy, lost, vulnerable, or marginalized people. God’s light shines the brightest in the darkest of places.
Service is our excuse and our opportunity to engage for God. When Jesus stands as a Judge on the other side of eternity and separates the sheep (righteous) from the goats (wicked), service will be His yardstick. (MT 25:31-46) In this passage, Jesus separates the two groups based upon whether or not they: saw the hungry and fed them, gave drink to the thirsty, saw a stranger and let them in, or someone needing clothes and clothed them.
Clearly service is extremely important to Jesus. Service is God’s love in you activated by faith and put into action.
