As we move to the New Year, I find myself in that place of thinking about what I want to do, be, achieve in the new year. I tend to get caught up in me, what personal feats I want to achieve, but God keeps bringing me back to one word – SERVE.

Serving others is a cornerstone message in the Bible. You see this message in the lives of the prophets pre-Jesus on earth, in the life of Jesus, and in the lives after Jesus. Serving others was consistent in each of these lives.

In God’s message to Abraham in Genesis, He tells him that he will bless him (Genesis 12:2), so that Abraham will be a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2-3). Abraham is going to be blessed to be a blessing. The blessing he will receive from God has a purpose which is to bless others. Serve.

The life of Jesus was about service, continuing constantly, consistently, until he died on the cross. At the last supper with his disciples, Jesus washes their feet saying, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” Serve.

And, finally, Paul, who was not a disciple of Jesus while he walked on earth, caught the message from Christ. In his letter in Ephesians (4:11-13), he writes:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Christ made pastors, teachers, etc. to equip people to SERVE. The result will be unity and maturity of believers. Service would unify the church.

Paul’s message to the church in Ephesus has been pivotal as I plan for 2021. Maybe the same will be true of you. I am to serve which will deepen my faith and bring unity to the church. Without service, my faith is not mature, and I fight unity in the church.

Said differently, without service, I make life about me, a selfish existence. With service, life is about others, the by-product is strong faith.

Impact others. Live generously.

Follow my blog.