Dearest Lord God, please bless with courage and strength and wisdom Your priestly people, that we may generously serve the human family. Direct us to deliver the oppressed, pity the insignificant, raise the fallen, show You to the needy, care for the sick, bring back those who have gone astray, feed the hungry, lift up the weak, make bearable the prisoner’s chains and free those who sit in darkness. Fill our minds and hearts with love, that we may be a sign of Jesus to all those living in our midst. (Adapted from a prayer of Saint Clement of Rome)
The greatness of a Christian is not success but service. Christ Jesus does not demand us to sacrifice anything, but expects us to be willing to sacrifice everything. It is only in turning loose the things that most of us keep as our treasures that we find what is truly treasure.
God ever deals with His people as accountable creatures – as moral beings, in contrast to stick and stone: He address their responsibility!
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17), to enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days (Luke 1:74-75).
By dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way – the way of the Spirit (Romans 7:6). If we live, we live to the Lord… whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (Romans 14:18). Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1). This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God (2 Corinthians 9:12).
You, my brothers… serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13). Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men (Ephesians 6:7), for you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Jesus Christ you are serving (Colossians 3:24). Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord (Romans 12:11).
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms… If anyone serves he should do it with the strength God provides so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:10-11).
It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:12). Those who serve well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 3:13).
The age old question: If you were brought before a court on the charge of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us [see John 3:16] – and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (1 John 3:16)!
God's Word on That 