"It is Well" - Serve Well

Good morning, Five Minute Families. As always we pray you are investing your time and energy into your family. If you realize that you haven’t been doing so, we encourage you to start with just five minutes a day. (hence, our name). But, please don’t stop with just five minutes a day. Once you have seen all the ways that you can quickly and easily make intentional investing in your family happen, allow that to magnify.Now, let’s jump into the final week of our “It is Well” series. We have discussed how to lead well, follow well, and grow well. We are going to end with serve well. Ultimately, Jesus came to serve, not to be served. He said himself in Luke 22, “rather, the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.  For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”For some serving is so natural that they truly do not understand why anyone would even need to be reminded of serving other. However, we must point out that we placed ‘growing in Christ well’ before serving well on purpose. Just as Martha had to learn that service comes after gleaning God’s truth and sitting in His presence, servers-by-nature, must remember that very important lesson. Serving and growing in Christ go hand in hand, but servers often lose sight of that. If that is you and you aren’t sure who Martha is, please check out Luke chapter 10 verse 38 through 42.For many though, serving does not come naturally or easily. James 2:24 tells us, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” By works we show our faith. Sometimes that faith is new or uninformed, but by serving we can learn and grow. Again, growing and serving are two sides of the sanctification coin. So, how does a family serve well together? One of the first ways to serve as a family is to serve each other. Some seasons of life are “at home” seasons such as when young children or an elderly parent need constant care. Don’t discount the service opportunities that present themselves every day. Just as our recommended “five minutes a day” should become so much more, serving one another at home will progress from an intentional single ask in the morning, “Is there anything I can do for you today?” to anticipating the needs and wants of your loved ones and fulfilling them out of a heart of service. Another way to serve well together is to create a savings jar or account. Everyone can choose one luxury item to give up (mom or dad, maybe it is a café coffee for you; kiddos, maybe it is foregoing your favorite brand cereal that week; altogether, maybe you give up one regular night eating out). Place those monies together and then deliver food together to a local food bank, or if you can save enough, pay for a short-term mission together, or possibly for a member of the family to go on an international mission trip.Local nonprofits always need the gift of your time. Yes, that can sometimes be tricky with children of various ages. But, if you are diligent, you can find one (such as ours) that would welcome your whole family, no matter what age, in order to meet the needs of the folks they serve. Take a moment before grocery shopping to chat through all the ways you can brighten someone’s day, and if that someone is in front of you in line is holding it up in some way, take a moment to pray quickly, breathe deeply, and purposefully choose not to show your growing frustration. No, this isn’t an international mission trip way of serving, but, Five Minute Families, it is in the little moments we often get to reflect Jesus the most. One final suggestion would be for your family to help a neighbor in need. You can rake the leaves, mow the lawn, and leave a treat you all baked together.Of course, there are so many more ways to serve well together, but no matter what you choose, choose something after prayerful consideration. Remember your goal is not to feel good about yourselves, though you will; your goal is to shine a spotlight on the God who loves us all.Thanks you so much for joining us today, and we pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened as to how Jesus wants us to live for Him together each and every day. Serve well and God bless!