DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT - WEDNESDAY: Set Free To Love

" For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." -- Jesus.
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My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don't use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love. -- Gal 5:13 (CEV)

Serve One Another In Love
One of the greatest revelations that I have ever had as a Christian was that you become stronger in your walk with the Lord by serving people. This revelation came to me when I was young in the Lord; it became the biggest motivation for my wanting to become a Pastor. Once I became a Pastor, I found that it wasn’t hard to serve others, it wasn’t hard to love others and it it’s not hard to do these things today, as long as I walk in the light as He is in the light, because the...

Flesh draws attention to itself
It demands that its own desires be fulfilled and met...
People's desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God's kingdom. --Gal 5:19 - 21

Love draws attention to others
Love causes us to want to help others, it desires the wellbeing of others more than our own interests. We may not be called upon to give our lives for someone, but we are continually called upon to give a part of our lives for others. We are expected to give our money to help others, we are expected to give our time to help others, we are expected to bear one another’s burden, we are expected to be there for someone in need and we are commanded to love one another...

But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. --John 13:34

Only the Holy Spirit can create in us the kind of love toward our Savior that will overflow in imaginative sympathy and practical helpfulness towards his people. Unless the spirit is training us in love, we are not fit persons to go to college or a training class to learn the know-how or particular branches of Christian work. Gifted leaders who are self-centered and loveless are a blight to the church rather than a blessing. -- James I. Packer

Psychologists tell us we have inborn drives
Do you know which drive they say is the strongest? It is the drive for self preservation. This drive has a tendency to cause people to be selfish. They strive to get all they can even if it means ruining someone else in the process! They want to be better than everybody else, and once they achieve all this, their ego’s swell because of their self importance, they actually think they are winners!

This is in total opposition to the drive that the Holy Spirit gives us once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. The Holy Spirit propels us to put the teachings of Christ into action, He grants us the desire to put others first. Only then can we can be... “Set free to serve one another in love.”

David Livingstone once wisely remarked: He is the greatest master I have ever known. If there is anyone greater, I do not know him. Jesus Christ is the only master supremely worth serving. He is the only ideal that never loses its inspiration. He is the only friend whose friendship meets every demand. He is the only Saviour who can save the uttermost. We go forth in His name, in His power, and in His Spirit to serve Him. – Source unknown

Loving Father, I thank you that through Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, that I am set me free to serve my fellow Christians in love! Help me by the power of the Holy Spirit not to take this freedom for granted, and that I can use it to extend your kingdom and bring you glory! In Jesus wonderful and mighty name! Amen!