Loving Well: Acts of Service: Various Texts

Loving Well: Acts of Service

Various Texts

Acts of Service

• Doing something for your someone that you know they would like
  • “Actions speak louder than words.”

 

God as the Lover

• It may be difficult for us to imagine the God of the Universe as a servant
  • However, Scripture is full of examples of His love being expressed in this way
• The Deliverance of Israel from Egypt
  • Which became the defining moment of the OT for Jews
• God’s love in service is best revealed in the Incarnation
  • Jesus’ life was about serving others in love (Matt. 20:28)
  • He did this through His miracles (Luke 4:17-21)
    • Which He stated was proof of His divinity (John 10:37-38)
  • He did this through the washing of His disciples’ feet (John 13:1)
  • He did this through His death on the Cross (John 15:13)

 

Our Love for God

• We show God our love through our acts of service
• This includes using our giftedness to serve within the context of Church ministry

• Worship team
• Serving teams
• AWANA/Trek
• Recovery Ministries
• Teaching
• Missions
• Prayer
• Others

 

 

Loving One Another

• How do we show love through our service to each other?
• Taking on tasks that we know the other person does NOT enjoy doing
  • It does not have to be something you despise doing
  • But, it should be sacrificial on some level
• This kind of service can be between spouses, within families, among friends, and even in the workplace
• ) Cooking a meal, washing dishes, taking out the garbage, mowing the lawn, changing the baby’s diaper, taking someone’s shift

 

Loving Our Community

• How do we serve our community in love?
• Volunteering
• Helping out a neighbor
  • Mow their lawn, make them a meal, watch their kids, etc.

 

Love as a Choice

• Since love is a choice on the part of the lover
  • The beloved should never try to force or manipulate a certain action
  • “If you loved me, you would…”
• Likewise, if we feel criticized by those we seek to love, we may be tempted to stop trying
  • Instead we need to hear what is behind the criticism to learn to love better
  • This is NOT a license for us to be critical of each other

 

So What?

• Are we loving through our acts of service?
  • Doing for others what helps them, even if it is not something we enjoy

 

Meditation Verse: 1 Peter 4:10