Faithfulness Positions Itself As A Servant
Faithfulness Positions Itself As A Servant
Matthew 25:14, 25 (NKJV)
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Those who were given responsibility in this kingdom were those who were already in the position of ‘servants’. The master didn’t choose to deliver his goods to his neighbor, or to an investment banker; he delivered them into the hands of his servants. Why? Because he trusted them.
When we serve the people in authority over our lives we position ourselves under their authority. The more we serve our leaders the more we show that we can be trusted and the inevitable result will be that we will be given responsibility.
It takes time to build trust which is why, in the setting of the local church, we don’t give people positions of leadership after knowing them for five minutes – no matter how popular or how skilled they are! We watch them to see how they serve. And as they serve consistently over a period of time, with a good heart, our trust in them grows and eventually they are given responsibility in God’s House.
When you take up the position of ‘servant’ (and trust is built) you will be given responsibility. When you are given responsibility you have an opportunity to be faithful. Our opportunity to be faithful is determined by our commitment to first be a servant.
Every faithful leader is firstly a faithful servant.
Jesus walked the earth as a servant-king. He modeled great leadership yet, under His Father’s authority, modeled great servanthood. In Mark 10:45 He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” This is what Jesus was all about and He made it clear to His disciples that if they wanted to be ‘great’ in the Kingdom of God they should be ‘servant of all’ (Mark 9:35).
The problem is that it takes humility to serve! So often people back away from ‘serving’ because they are simply too proud! “Why should I have to ‘lower’ myself to this position?” “I have been called to greater things than this!” Maybe you have been called to ‘greater’ things, but you will never experience them if you don’t humble yourself and SERVE! Remember that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).
Steuart Payne
Executive Pastor, Family Church
(This week’s devotionals are written by one of the Family Church pastors. Enjoy!)
Matthew 25:14, 25 (NKJV)
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Those who were given responsibility in this kingdom were those who were already in the position of ‘servants’. The master didn’t choose to deliver his goods to his neighbor, or to an investment banker; he delivered them into the hands of his servants. Why? Because he trusted them.
When we serve the people in authority over our lives we position ourselves under their authority. The more we serve our leaders the more we show that we can be trusted and the inevitable result will be that we will be given responsibility.
It takes time to build trust which is why, in the setting of the local church, we don’t give people positions of leadership after knowing them for five minutes – no matter how popular or how skilled they are! We watch them to see how they serve. And as they serve consistently over a period of time, with a good heart, our trust in them grows and eventually they are given responsibility in God’s House.
When you take up the position of ‘servant’ (and trust is built) you will be given responsibility. When you are given responsibility you have an opportunity to be faithful. Our opportunity to be faithful is determined by our commitment to first be a servant.
Every faithful leader is firstly a faithful servant.
Jesus walked the earth as a servant-king. He modeled great leadership yet, under His Father’s authority, modeled great servanthood. In Mark 10:45 He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” This is what Jesus was all about and He made it clear to His disciples that if they wanted to be ‘great’ in the Kingdom of God they should be ‘servant of all’ (Mark 9:35).
The problem is that it takes humility to serve! So often people back away from ‘serving’ because they are simply too proud! “Why should I have to ‘lower’ myself to this position?” “I have been called to greater things than this!” Maybe you have been called to ‘greater’ things, but you will never experience them if you don’t humble yourself and SERVE! Remember that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).
Steuart Payne
Executive Pastor, Family Church
(This week’s devotionals are written by one of the Family Church pastors. Enjoy!)
RSS Feed
