PHILIPPIANS 2:5–8
Serving others has got to be the greatest paradox of all time. I can remember riding in the car on the way to church and my mother asking us children why we went to church. Our response was as mechanical as it was routine; “To Serve others and Jesus.” This was my mother’s motto. Serve others here, serve others there. Quite frankly, I got sick of it all. “Can’t a person just think about themselves once in a while?” I would ask in frustration. Her gentle answer to my harsh question was just absurd: “The joy comes in serving.” This always confounded me. How on earth could anyone find joy in serving? Well, Christ did. He even found joy in dying because He gladly gave Himself up for us. If He could die for me, surely I could return some small service to Him. I found that by asking if I could help around the house, my days would pass ever so much more pleasantly. It was weird. Somehow I really was blessed by serving. It is the greatest inconsistency I have ever encountered. My normal mode is to get so wrapped up in myself, how I look and how I feel. Rarely do reach out to encourage and serve someone else. Yet every time, the most absurd thing happens. I am blessed and encouraged. The joy really does come from serving like Christ.
Caroline J. Hornok, 15, Veritas Academy, Texarkana, TX
God, I want to feel happy by making others happy.
Show me today how I can help someone in need.