Why is it so hard to serve other people? We can show love, or we can be selfish. We don’t even need to go out of our way to do it. Simply smiling at someone or doing one small act of kindness can turn their day around. Normally the problem starts when we are more worried about getting extra than we are about someone else getting enough.
However, we have the power to flip this dynamic on its head. When your focus moves to be about other people, you get to see their gratitude. When you see how grateful they are for the small thing you’ve done, you grow in appreciation for the things you have. We can’t get lost in deciding who deserves to be helped. God has called you to go out there and serve the whole world. Even the people you might not like. Even the people who might not treat you well.
We are called to follow the example of service that Jesus gave to us. In Mark 10:43-45 Jesus says, “it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
We can love people even if they don’t like us. Twentieth-century priest and spiritual writer Henri Nouwen said, “That is our vocation: to convert the enemy into a guest and to create the free and fearless space where brotherhood and sisterhood can be formed and fully experienced.” When we put our own wants and desires aside to serve someone else, we show them the love of God.
Who can you serve today, tomorrow, next week?