Theme of the Week: Servant Leadership
Bible Verse: God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. 1 Peter 4:10–11 NLT
Scripture Reading: Romans 12:6-13; 1 Peter 4:7–11; Ephesians 4:11-13
Swedish tennis player Bjorn Borg was the first man to win 5 straight Wimbledon championships. After winning his first in 1976, he said, “I realized my serve was not good enough for Wimbledon”. So, he improved it; he improved his serve. Tennis writer Gene Scott later wrote, “Borg’s serve was easy and practical – like a Swiss knife. Not overwhelming or dramatic, but very useful.” Borg’s self-analysis and work on his serve paid off. His serve got better; he kept winning, and winning big.
Christians are to develop their “serve”. Of course, it’s not about our tennis game; Jesus wants us to improve how we serve others. If we were honest, some of us have a pretty lousy serve. For others, we have no serve at all. Either way, coach Jesus has some words for us.
Scott’s evaluation of Borg’s serve is helpful: “Borg’s serve was easy and practical…Not overwhelming or dramatic, but very useful.” These would be phenomenal words to hear if it was in assessment of how we serve people.
There’s a temptation to compare ourselves to someone else with a better serve or a different spiritual gift…and withdraw. We pull back when we shouldn’t. The Apostle Peter said God Himself has given “each of us” gifts “from His great variety of spiritual gifts”. He then reminded the saints to use their own gifts well to “serve one another”.
What you have to offer as a servant leader is exactly what’s needed for the people God has already put around you. Like Borg, your “serve” doesn’t have to be overwhelming or dramatic – just useful. Use what God has given you. Develop your serve until it’s a blessing to others and brings glory to God.
Prayer: Father, I want to improve my serve. I need your help to identify the spiritual gifts you have given me plus boldness to use them. Show me your work in my life and help me serve in your strength. Thank you for blessing me so I can be a blessing to others.
Reflection: Do you feel like you have developed a useful serve? Have you identified a spiritual gift or ways that God seems to use you to help others? Spend some time praying and asking God to make your gifts obvious so you can use them boldly for the glory of God.
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