Skip to content ↓

Day Thirty Three – How Real Servants Act

Articles Collection cover image

I serve God by serving others. Whereas the world defines greatness by how many others serve me, God defines greatness by how many people I serve. Rick Warren provides several ways I can discern if I have a servant’s heart:

  • Real servants make themselves available to serve. A real servant does not fill his time up with other pursuits that will limit his availability to serve. I need to be available at any time, even when it may be most inconvenient.
  • Real servants pay attention to needs. A real servant is always on the lookout for needs and for ways he can help meet those needs. When I find a need I am to give it preference and not put it off until I feel like doing it.
  • Real servants do their best with what they have. A real servant does not make excuses, procrastinate or wait for better circumstances. I need to do the best I can to help out, even if my service will be less than perfect.
  • Real servants do every task with equal dedication. A real servant does every task with all his heart. I can never fall into the trap of thinking that I am too important to help out with various tasks, no matter how menial they may seem. Jesus was an amazing example of someone who did the tasks of a servant, whether it was washing feet or fixing breakfast.
  • Real servants are faithful to their ministry. A real servant will finish his tasks, fulfill his responsibilities and complete his commitments. I need to be dependable. When I say I am going to do something I need to do it.
  • Real servants maintain a low profile. A real servant will not call attention to himself or promote himself. I need to do what I do with humility and look for eternal rewards, not rewards from men.

Some of God’s greatest servants are people we have never heard of. They are people who spend their whole lives in service, never receiving recognition – they seek only to further God’s work on earth. These are the people God notices and the ones who will receive great reward in heaven.

Bible Passages

Warren quotes the Bible twenty times using nine translations and paraphrases. Generally he uses good translations and stays within the proper context of the passages.

Point to Ponder

Today’s point to ponder is “I serve God by serving others.” I agree with this statement, but rather than discuss it (it is, after all, quite obvious) I am going to go on a small tangent.

Warren discusses that real servants make themselves available to serve and maintain a low profile. I started thinking about pastors and how in some ways they may be chief offenders in this area. It seems that in most denominations there is something of a career path for pastors. They often start as youth pastors or associate pastors. As they grow older and become competent preachers they may receive a senior pastorate. Often times these pastors then move to bigger and bigger churches until at last they are able to retire from a mega church.

It is very unusual to hear of a pastor of a large church feeling God’s call to walk away from a large church to start a new church or to take over as pastor of a small, struggling church. I wonder if churches do not fall into a corporate mold, where bigger means better and where “bigger” roles are viewed as more spiritual and more indicative of God’s blessing.

Up Next

Tomorrow’s topic is Thinking Like A Servant


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (June 14)

    A La Carte: Diapers of glory / The manipulator / A censorious spirit / Know your teenage child’s frame / Even if he doesn’t / How can I be a godly father?

  • Managing Household

    Managing Your Household Well

    The Bible lays out a whole list of qualifications that must be present in the life of a man who wishes to be a pastor. He must be the husband of one wife, he must be a lover of good, he must be hospitable, and so on. Meanwhile, he must not be arrogant, quick-tempered, violent,…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (June 13)

    A La Carte: A northern warning / Are my struggles personal or demonic? / Being the best Christian / UnOriginal sin / The importance of competence / Patterns false teachers follow / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (June 12)

    A La Carte: Helping the poor / Screen time sabbaticals / A right way to pray / Thinking too little of yourself / Rehabilitating ministers / Christianity speaks to everything / and more.

  • Friends Astern Friends Ahead

    Friends Astern & Friends Ahead

    I’ve heard that it was an old nautical tradition that when a boat sailed across the Atlantic, the passengers would spend the first half of the voyage raising their glasses to friends astern—to the ones who had seen them off and bid them a fond farewell.