seeking to serve.

These past few days I have been prayerfully seeking what aspect of Jesus I would like to focus on, in preparation for Easter. I wanted to focus on an aspect of Jesus that I needed more in my own life, and I desperately wanted to be challenged like never before. That’s when the Lord used My Utmost for His Highest in my life once more. The title of today’s devotion is The Determination to Serve, and I was struck hard by the word serve. When is the last time I sought to serve?

Am I willing to serve selflessly? Do I serve without complaint? Is my first choice to serve? Am I willing to serve and give, even to the point of death, just as Christ? Honestly? No.

I am a product of the ME generation. Despite having wonderful examples of service in my life, I rarely seek to serve. My life revolves around me most of the time. I am quick to focus on my blessings, but I so often fail to seek to be a blessing to others. I focus on my time, my plans, and my home, but I fail to focus on areas where I should serve. I no longer want to be associated with my generation. Life all about me is empty, without purpose, and lonely. This is not the life I am called to. This is not the life any believer is called to.

Because our culture is so fixated on ourselves, a heart of service towards others is rare. However, if I am to be more like Jesus, then my heart must seek to put others first, not for their approval, but for His. Oswald Chambers states in My Utmost for His Highest, “When we realize that Jesus Christ has served us to the end of our meanness, our selfishness, and sin, nothing that we meet with from others can exhaust our determination to serve men for His sake.”

Over these next few weeks I will begin the process of shifting my focus. It will not be an easy task to change my thinking, but in order for me to be who God has called me to be, I must seek to serve. I want to have the determination to serve. I want my life to be a picture of selfless giving. If am to be told someday, “Well done my good and faithful servant”, then I need to become a servant of the gospel for the lost, a servant for God’s people, a servant for God’s purpose, and a servant seeking His approval above all else.

I don’t know yet how I am going to accomplish this task of seeking to serve, but I know it starts with a heart, broken of pride, open to a challenge, and filled with love. As I seek to serve, my home will be a sanctuary of worship to my Savior. The TV will be off, social media will be limited, worship music will be on, and everything having to do with our ME culture will be purged from my house. I will spend time in prayer, praying for the lost, praying for the broken, praying for purpose, praying for the determination to serve, even when I don’t want to. I will make time to study the life of Christ, seeking to be more like Him, and thanking Him for His ultimate sacrifice.

“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,

and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

Banning Bossy and Pursuing Character

If you have watched any portion of the news in the last few weeks you will have heard of the Banning Bossy campaign. Banning Bossy is a push by women to take the word “bossy” and its condescending message out of American vocabulary.

Personally, I agree with this campaign. I agree with removing this word from my own vocabulary, and I agree that I have seen and felt this word do more harm than good.
However, I do not agree with replacing this word with more synonyms. Words like “assertive” and “bold” only mask the sting of the word bossy. They are the politically correct way of stating a woman is bossy or worse yet a female dog. In a world where women constantly feel the need to empower themselves simply replacing a word does nothing, a change of perspective must come as well.

As a woman with a will stronger than that of ten men, but more importantly as a woman seeking Christ, I believe Christian women need to step out and push for women of character, not just women of strength. My strong-will is no good if I don’t have the character and moral compass of a woman who loves Jesus. My words of boldness are spoken in vain if they are not spoken out of the inspiration of the spirit. My actions of standing out do no good if it is only for my gain, not for Christ’s.

The Bible is full of women of strength; Deborah, Esther, Ruth, Rahab, and Mary have shown us how to be bold women changing the world out of obedience to their Creator. They spoke when prompted, acted at the right time, and ultimately glorified their Creator when their job was done.

Instead of a world full of loud, independent, assertive women, we need a world of confident women. We need women who aren’t afraid to be different, women who speak with kindness, and who act out of humility. We need women who are nurturing in the midst of tragedy, who are organized in the midst of chaos, and put the needs of others before themselves. We need women who will boldly step out and fight for life, fight for a woman’s God-given role in the home, and will motivate and inspire the very best from their families. We need women of intelligence and discipline to do what needs to be done when no one else can. We need women who understand the value of a soft-spoken word, and a gentle touch, women who are meek and yet filled with Divine strength. Ultimately, we need a world of women of character- a world of velvet bricks, and steel magnolias.

At the end of the day, I want to be known for my obedience to Jesus, my love of my husband and our family, and for my character and how it is lived out every day of my life. I want to be a woman who is respected not from what I say or do, but from the way in which I carry the cross of Christ throughout every part of my life.

For those “bossy” girls out there, be different, be a woman who seeks Jesus above all else- Your strength only comes from Him.

My wonderful examples of women of character.

 

My Velvet Brick of a Mama. She has taught me life’s most important lessons.