The Gift of Service – Radio Classic – Dr. Charles Stanley – Power of the Holy Spirit – Part 5

Do you have the gift of service? There’s no picture of service in Scripture more humbling than that of Christ washing the feet of His disciples. What some would consider as a lowly task, Christ saw as a need to be met. In Dr. Stanley’s message, ‘The Gift of Service,’ learn that those with the gift of service are often more sensitive to the needs around them and have a compassionate spirit within them that longs to help meet that need.

For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch

When you receive the lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you receive a very special unique gift.
This gift was for the purpose of enabling you to become the person god wants you to be, do the things that god wants you to do.
It was a gift that was fitted and suited for you and god’s purpose for your life.
The Holy Spirit is the one who gives those gifts. And it’s salvation.
I believe that’s when that gift is bestowed upon us.
That gift is not given for the purpose of making us happy, It is given for the purpose of making it possible for us to be productive and fruitful for the kingdom of god.
And for example, in 1st Peter, chapter 4, listen to what, uh, he says in this 4th chapter, very significant passage of scripture.
Listen, if you will. He says in verse 10, as each one has received a special gift employed in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of god, the many various ways in which god blesses us.
Whoever speaks is to do so one who is speaking the utterance of god.
Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which god supplies so that in all things, god may be glorified.
And he says, through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs, the glory and the dominion forever and ever amen.
Now, this is one of the message, and in the series living in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And this is a section of that series that deals with those gifts of a spirit.
And the gifts of a spirit is the work of god in order to enable us to become to do the fulfill god’s purpose and to make us fruitful in whatever god has called us to do in light.
Every single person has one or more gifts.
Now there are 3 primary sections of gifts in the scriptures in the New Testament.
1 is Paul’s uh, passage in Romans 12.
And then those 1st Corinthians 12, which he talks about the spirits and ministries and manifestations of a spirit.
Then if in ephesians, for example, chapter 4, he talks about the different ministries, uh, that god gives.
And so in Romans 12, What he speaks of here, and you might wanna turn there for a moment.
Uh, in Romans 12, this series of gifts are those gifts that are motivational gifts.
Now I’ve watched this for over 25 years when I first heard it, so it’s not original with me.
When I first heard it, I thought about it, And I think, well, I’m gonna just think and watch to see if this is true.
But over 25 years, I have watched these examples, the manifestations, the exercise of these gifts and people, and it is so absolutely so perfect to what I wanna show you today in this message.
And if you notice what he says in verse 6 of this 12 chapter, since we have gifts that differ, differ according to the grace given to a that is god has given different gifts to different people.
Each one is an act of his grace. Each of us is to exercise these gifts accordingly.
If prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith, which we dealt with in the first message here.
If service and this serving are he who teaches in his teaching, He says, or he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness.
So god by his grace has given you one of these gifts.
Now when we say a motivational gift, what do we mean?
We mean that underlying those gifts that god has given you, one of these gifts.
One of these gifts you’re gonna discover is a motivation within you.
That is amidst all of them, all of us have a particular unique gift that is the underlying motivation for what we choose to do, want to do in life.
And what you’ll discover is this will become very, very clear when I describe the characteristics of this particular gift that we’re gonna deal with today, and we’re dealing with each one of them the same.
If you have this gift, you’re gonna say, yeah, that’s the way I feel. I yeah. That’s right.
I don’t like that either. Because god has equipped you with a gift that suits and fits his purpose for your life.
There’s no such thing as a giftless child of god.
There’s no such thing as a motivational giftless of one of his children.
And so as you listen to this, I want to encourage you to examine your own heart.
Ask yourself the question. Do these things sound like me the way I feel in my relationships because when you discover what your spiritual gift is or whether you do not discover it, the knowledge of it or absence of it affects all of your relationships, people you work with, your children, your husband, your wife, your friends, because we all have one of those gifts that, listen, that determine how we respond, react, relate, accomplish, achieve, or failed to do so in our life.
So today, the gift is the gift of service.
Now many people say, well, you know, I don’t like this gift of service. I want somebody serving me.
Wait till you listen to this.
Wait till you listen somebody says, well, I can tell you right now, but I want I want the gift of giving.
Wait till you hear that one.
And so you can’t say I want this or that, first of all, doesn’t do any good.
The Bible says in prostrandians chapter 12, the spirit of god gives the gifts to whosoever he will, so the spirit of god who came into your life, the moment you were saved, who enabled you to become saved, and who equips you is the one who’s made that determination because god knows exactly what he wants to accomplish in your life.
So listen carefully to each of these characteristics then we’ll talk about how you can be misunderstood by your friends and employees and family and so forth, and how you act when you are living in the spirit with this particular gift and how you act when you get in the flesh.
Are you ready to say a man? Alright. Here we go.
And the first characteristic when you when you think about this particular gift of service, and you’re probably thinking, well, I already know, uh, what these, character.
So I know that a person who serves does, doesn’t, so listen carefully.
One of the first characteristics that I want to notice is this, and that is a person who has the gift of service is a person who sees listen, who sees practical needs, and, usually, If a person has this gift, they see them first.
In a group of people who have different gifts, the person with the gift of service, somehow they have this amazing ability to see that particular need first.
And oftentimes, as a result of that, they’re the first one to step forward.
There’s the kind of person who cannot sit back They can’t sit back and let needs go on when they see it.
Now I wanna give you an illustration of something that happened to me today when I first came in the door today.
Uh, this young lad was standing there waiting for me.
And as soon as I walked in the door, he handed me this.
Now, It is a biscuit and a, uh, a little jar of pure maple syrup And, um, so I thanked him for it, and then I began to think about it.
I want you to think about this. I guessed his age.
He came up to me after the first served and identified himself. Uh, he is a little boy.
I figured he’s around 12. He says I’m eleven. And I’ll be 12 14 days.
Not only that, he’s from a foster home.
And here’s a twelve year old boy, who thought, you know, I wonder if the pastor had enough to eat this morning.
I wonder if he liked to have one of my biscuits and this syrup.
And so I’m gonna take it to him.
Said wrapped it up in a napkin, and he gave it to me just like that.
Now most people would have thought, man, get it. Get that past our cold biscuit.
And a jar of sir, Nothing to goodness. No. There’s no butter there.
He he he wouldn’t like that. You know what?
What this little boy didn’t realize is he was about to make the most awesome declaration.
Because you know what? This program will be seen around the world.
Every child who sees it, every child in the first service, every child in the second service.
You don’t think they didn’t hear and watch this?
What’s significant about this is this, that a twelve year old boy while eating his breakfast could think about his pastor whom I’d I never met him before and decide something inside of him wanted to do something for me.
He visualized that I might need something else to eat before I started preaching this morning.
And so what was the simple act of service on his part?
What was the simple act of service which was a cold biscuit and a jar of syrup was a god’s way of using him in a way that he will never be able to imagine the impact of it, because it’s gonna have impact on adults.
And if you’re sitting here on the low point heart, it should have an impact on you.
Most of the time when we’re eating who are we thinking about, self.
And oftentimes, god may send you a message to do something for someone else.
And you sit there and give reasons why you’d be embarrassed. Why? It’s not significant. Why?
That’s not a need. You can come up with 10 reasons not to give me a cold biscuit and a jar of syrup.
But you know what? This little boy did not listen to the reasons why he shouldn’t.
He listened to the reason why he should.
God spoke to his heart, and he was willing to be obedient to god.
Person with the this is the person with the gift of service meets practical needs.
Now he wouldn’t know anything about my heart, necessarily about any other need, but he knew that, you know what, this guy, he gets up and speaks for about an hour, and he’s bound to be hungry, at some point.
Now I did think about taking it back, putting it in the microwave, portals to their point, and I may do it after this service before it’s all over.
Because I’m grateful. He spoke to my heart, and he said something that was so awesome.
Twelve year old kid can hear a still small voice and do exactly without giving an excuse for not doing it.
That should convict every one of us. And I trust that it has, and it will.
Secondly, a person has a gift of service loves freeing other people to achieve.
Because, you see, a personal gift of service, they’re delighted in seeing you succeed. They’re delighted in helping.
They’re delighting and becoming a part of your life.
They are delighted in being able to feel useful, so for someone else.
And when they see a person uh, who is maybe very important in their eyes or person has a very important task.
If they can help you accomplish your task, they are greatly delighted in that.
Now I wanna show you the awesome part of this point.
The simple reason, the personal gift of service who exercises that gift. You know what they’re doing?
They are practicing One of the most basic, important principles of success in life.
Give yourself a way to help other people succeed give yourself a way to help other people accomplish that goal.
And what will god do, he will turn it right back to you, and he will bless you and reward you, and enabled you and gift you because what are you doing?
You giving yourself away. What did Jesus do for the 33 years he has owned his life?
When he entered that ministry before then, I’m sure, he was always giving himself away, whether it was teaching and healing and loving little children and listening to them, and dealing with the Pharisees and the sadduce.
He doesn’t mean to us he was always serving, always giving himself away.
And the person who practices, the person who get has the gift of service and who practices that they listen.
They are following one of the basic principles of success.
Give yourself away and help other people succeed, and you in turn will have great success.
God will honor you in whatever he’s called you to do in life, no matter what it is.
Whether it’s becoming a great mother, a great wife, a great husband, or whatever it might be, from god’s perspective, god is gonna be at work in your life.
And so you see, uh, to to cause a person not to be able to do that is to stifle their spirit.
That’s the thing that god’s placed in them this desire to be of service to other people.
Thirdly, there is a disregard for any weariness on their part.
And the person with a gift of service, and we’ll see in a few moments how often times they just work and work and work and work, but the gift of service, you know what?
They don’t quit. Get a little tired. They don’t just fold their hands and lie down.
But they just keep on going, even after they’re weary, even after they’re tired, when everybody else decides to sit down, take a break, the gift of service is gonna keep on working.
Why? Because they take great delight in a enabling and achieving and fulfilling a need in someone else’s life or whatever that may be.
And you’ll notice as we go along here, how often and how many times these can relate to your husband, your wife, your children, your parents, your friends, your employer, employees, because the truth is this all has to do with relationships.
And god created us to serve him, and he created us to work for one another.
He created us to, listen, to give ourselves to one another in some fashion or the other.
So the person in the gift of service now, think about their wife in the home, the husband in the home, for example, even if you just applied it in those areas.
Now sometimes, we do get physically tired. Now watch this.
Not watch this, not tired of doing what god’s call us to do, but we become weary in the process of doing it.
And the gift of service is the last one to sit down, the last one to lie down.
Our 4th characteristic, they have difficulty in saying no. And you say, well, why do I feel great?
Because that’s the way god spiritually wired you. That is your unique gift.
You just can’t stand to see needs go unmet.
And so as a result of that, when somebody says, uh, it can’t be done. You know what?
You don’t argue with them. You just show them it can be.
Because, you see, that’s the way that’s the way god made you.
He made you listen, he gave you a unique gift in order to serve one another.
And think about how self centered so many people are.
They just wanna live for themselves, me, myself, and I are my 3 favorite friends.
And the truth is, he says he has gifted you in order to give your life away to other people and to serve them.
So difficult to say no. Then, of course, alert to likes and dislikes.
It’s amazing how the person with the gift of service, they have this amazing way to remember.
They remember, for example, the foods you like, they remember the restaurants you’d like to go to and don’t like to go to, they remember what your hobby is, they remember maybe your favorite color, They remember the the things, the experiences you like.
In other words, they can remember lots of things. You know why?
It’s not because they make up their mind to do so.
It’s just the fact that it’s just a natural bent in them.
When they remember these things, that gives them the opportunity to serve.
So when your birthday comes around, they don’t forget it.
Uh, when they have an opportunity, for example, to serve you in some fashion because of something they remember, they they take great delight in doing that.
So they use these on special occasions. Another one is this.
And that is a a star a strong desire to be with other people.
The person who has the gift of service is not a loner. Now here’s the reason.
It’s not that they don’t have time of private meditation with god, It’s just the fact they’re not loners.
They’d like to be with people. Now what is it? Why is it they’d like to be with people?
Because being with people, Listen, allows them and affords them the opportunities of serving these people.
So a person who is a loner What they do oftentimes, they they back off out of life, and they just deny people the opportunity to be a friend, the opportunity to serve them in some fashion, A person with a gift of service, listen, they like being with people because they’re alert to ways, alert to ways to help to fulfill those practical needs.
And so, you know, what? They’re delighted in that.
And here are other people, for example, the audience in serving somebody else or whatever it might be, mister or missus service, They’re right in there.
They love taking advantage of it.
They’re very hospitable in every way because that’s where they get their greatest sense of fulfillment.
Giving themselves a way to meet the needs of other people, which is a very, very godly attitude.
Then of course, uh, they need approval and recognition. Now here’s the reason they do.
A person with a gift, uh, service needs recognition and approval.
You say, well, now if you got to give the services, you shouldn’t need it. Wait a minute. Watch this.
The reason is this, their appreciation and gratitude and thanksgiving and recognition that we show the personal gift of service, here’s what it does for them.
It doesn’t inflate their ego, What it does, it reconfirms that what they’re doing for you is important.
The fact that you thank them the fact that you show appreciation.
The fact that you say, you know, I noticed that, uh, even before I could think about this, you’d already done it.
I wanna thank you for being so thoughtful.
What that does, it says to the person, the gift of service, not is my ego being fed.
It says I’m so grateful that you said that because that lets me know that what I’m doing is very, very important in your life.
Now I can think of some people that I’m surrounded with with the gift of service.
And I can tell you, I can name 2 or 3 who are just perfect examples of what I’m thinking about.
And especially the one who’s always thinking ahead for me, always thinking ahead.
No matter what’s going on, I’m thinking did you not explain about that?
Because they know me well enough and, uh, have watched me enough, been with me enough, that they’re always thinking ahead looking for ways to do what?
Looking for ways to alleviate me from little things and circumstances and, uh, projects or whatever it might be that free my time, for example, let me give you an example.
Uh, a person who has a gift of, service, you tell them something can’t be done.
I remember when I was building my house, for example, that, uh, the the man was shellac, you know, varnishing, whatever he’s doing.
You see how little I know about that. Uh, the the mantle.
And there was a big spot right smack dab in the middle of it, big as my thumb.
And I said, what about that?
He said, well, somebody dropped something on this, and Disney gave me all these reasons that it can’t be fixed.
So my friend who has the gift of service, walked in, he saw that, And I said, you know, the plaintiff said that can be done.
He said, well, let well, just let me take care of that. I walked in the next day.
Can’t see a thing. Absolutely perfect. Gone.
One person’s has a reason why it can’t be done, mister or missus service gives you a reason why it can be done.
And if at all possible, they will get it done. Now I’m simply saying this.
I know that everybody’s not equally as gifted as this particular person, but what I want you to say is this.
If that person is willing to do what some people would call little, unimportant mundane things, in order to help me do what I do, Stop and ask yourself the question.
Have you placed in the category of unimportant and mundane things that god could use you to help somebody else?
He said, well, you know, I think I’m too important. Let me tell you something.
Whenever you and I get too important and we get so important, we can’t live on the level and sit on the level and stand on the level and walk on the level that everybody else does, we have a problem.
And our problem is pride, and god will not honor pride under any condition.
In fact, tell me what you and I are so important.
We can’t get in the dirt, and we can’t do whatever’s necessary to help someone else.
The gift of service doesn’t even have that problem.
They can’t wait to find some reason to help someone in some fashion or the other.
And so while they need approval and appreciation, all the rest, you know, god is working something awesome in their life.
Then, of course, there’s a whole issue of liking, they like short range projects.
Now, if you want to frustrate the gift of service, say, well, now, I have this, It’s gonna take us a year to get this done, blah, blah, blah, done.
You know what? Mr, uh, or Mrs’s, um, uh, gift of services, oh my goodness.
A year or 5 years as you give them a 10 year project. Forget it.
But, you know, something, you give them a short range project, Let them go. Let them do it.
Be sure to give them clear instructions, but let them do the job. Short range projects, and here’s the reason.
It isn’t because they think the project is not important.
What’s important to that person is this way they’re wired spiritually, and that is they want to see progress.
They wanna see progress now tomorrow. And then in other words, they wanna they wanna see progress being made.
The truth is all of us do, but but service they have to see progress.
Does that mean they can’t participate in a in a in a long term thing? No. It means this.
The way they look at a long term project, they chop it up in small pieces. I’ll get this done.
I’ll get that done. I’ll get this done. That done, this done, that it may be a year.
It may be 2 years, but they while they get that glimpse, then they have to come back to think, alright, short term, If I can get this done in 2 or 3 weeks of that done in 2 or 3 weeks, they have to see progress.
And in the process of doing so, they’re the kind of people who accomplish great long range tasks.
But they have to break it down in small sections so they can see the progress being made.
Then, of course, for example, There’s this whole issue of meeting needs, uh, meeting needs quickly.
In other words, you give a person who has the gift of service.
In other words, they’re not gonna say, well, a couple of weeks ought to get to that.
If it’s a need of practical need, they go into work, and they wanna get it done as quickly as possible.
I have seen this over and over and over again with the people I know who have the gift of service.
You don’t have to wait on them.
They don’t sit around and tell you the reasons it can’t be done.
And they don’t give you some excuse for gonna get it done one of these days.
That’s the kind of person who steps up to the plate and says, okay.
I see this need to understand what I’m supposed to do. They wanna do it quickly.
The worst thing you can do with the gift of service is put them on some committee.
Especially some committee where everybody has to express their personal opinion and desires and dislikes and where somebody wants to be impressed that they ought to have the final answer.
And the pro the person who thinks, well, they know more about that than than somebody else.
You put them on that account kind of committed with red tape. And you know what you do?
You destroy them. They they can’t handle that. If this is the job, And this is the direction.
Let’s get it done. Let’s don’t even consider why we can’t do it. Let’s consider listen.
Not only can we do it, but how quickly can we get it done.
Now if you’re the person who is in need, for example, let’s say you have some need at your house and and you call somebody who is in that particular area, they said, well, we’ll be able to get around to it probably in about 3 weeks, maybe.
But what do you do? You call somebody else?
Well, You see, god has wired many wonderful people with a gift of services. This needs to be done.
Let’s get it done. Don’t give me the red tape.
Tell me what you want done, we will get it done.
And thank god there are people who serve on committees who have that spirit, who have that attitude, and who do not want to delay getting the job done.
Amen? Amen. We’re gonna get it done so you can look forward to happen.
Now Also, they have a tendency. Listen. They can have a tendency in that area to feel inadequate.
And unqualified, sometimes because, uh, naturally, everybody isn’t as self confident as other people are.
And so sometimes that person may feel better, but what what I what I want you to see here is this.
That person may feel at times unqualified in this area or maybe a little bit inadequate, you know what hap what I’ve noticed, what happens, that people who haven’t feel that way, they have so much commitment to getting it done that their love and their service to do what needs to be done overcomes their lack of knowledge or experience.
And somehow, they’ll get it done. They may feel inadequate, but you know what? What te listen.
What is the most wonderful substitute for that feeling of inadequacy is their determination and their love, listen, their and their joy and pleasing and working.
You know, what happens? They’ll get it done. Gifted service is an awesome gift. They all are.
But this is one that, certainly, in the kingdom of god, if you ask me which gift that I think god has given to the most people my personal opinion would be, not worth any more than yours, my personal opinion would be, that it’s a gift of service.
God needs people, many, many, many people, for example, let’s say that, um, uh, you, uh, have this gift of service.
And you say, well, now how can I use that? Now here’s what I want you to remember.
Because you have the gift of service, does not mean that so some areas you can’t serve.
And you can have the gift of service and be the president.
You can have the gift of service and be, for example, a mother in the home.
You can have the gift of service and be an attorney.
You can have the gift of service and work in office as a secretary. It doesn’t make any difference.
God uses your gift wherever he places you. And so, therefore, here’s what happens.
You operate best in whatever vocation you’re in. You operate best when you operate out of your gift.
And if your gift is service, you know what’s gonna happen? You’re gonna motivate other people.
You’re gonna encourage them when they see your activity and what you’re willing to do and and your capacity and you get and make it happen, they may be more intelligent than you are in their mind.
They may have more gifts, more education, all the rest, but you know what?
I’d rather have an uneducated person who is in level Jesus Christ as a gift of service and knows, no knows, no buts, no excuses, put them to work and see who gets the most done.
The gift of service will get it done. That’s the way god’s wired them.
Now, for example, naturally, people misunderstand them. So let’s think about this whole idea.
How will people misunderstand? Well, number 1, a person with a gift of service, their quickness in attempting to meet needs may appear to be pushing.
Well, you just, by the way, it’s especially if it’s a group of people who are determined to get something done.
Well, the gift of service is gonna say, well, what are we waiting for? Come on. Let’s go.
Let’s let’s get it done. Or in the family, for example, let let’s get this done. Dad says, okay.
We’ve decided here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re getting ready to go on the trip.
Now I want you to do this and this and so forth. And this will be him holding around.
Let’s get with a plan. Let let let’s move on.
And so while they appear to be pushing, they’re not being pushy, they just respond to needs quickly.
That’s just the way they’re wired.
Secondly, and avoiding, uh, tempting to avoid, uh, red tape and all that kind of stuff.
It results sometimes in people’s minds that scluding other people from the job.
Because they wanna get it done, if somebody’s sort of sitting around a little bit, you know what?
They’re just gonna walk right around you. And get it done anyway. It’s not that they want to exclude anybody.
It’s just that here’s the project, here’s the time. Let’s get it done. What are we waiting for?
Every family needs some of that in it.
Every church needs plenty of that in it, and every organization needs plenty of that.
That is what would happen in this nation of ours financially.
If people have the gift of service, and entrepreneurs have the gift of service that people who have that gift would begin we could understand that and move out in all this sloppfulness and laziness and and wanting, uh, listen, wanting to quit early.
And I was given all these excuses for not giving their best.
If all that got turned into, listen, to awesome, divine energy.
Could you imagine what can happen in this nation of ours? What can happen in the home?
What can happen in the schools? What can happen in the churches?
If there’s a project and it’s worthy and if there’s a need, then why wait around?
Because you know what? God’s got something else for us to do soon as we have finished that, and soon as we accomplish And so the gift of service oftentimes is misunderstood in that light.
Well, I think also when I when I think about that, I think about other ways that, uh, that person is misunderstood and not rightfully so, but they are.
And that is in their eagerness, listen, in their eagerness, um, to serve it may prompt some people to think that they are trying to, uh, advance themselves.
You see, the truth is if a person has a gift of service, they’re gonna step up.
Well, Mister Lays is thoughtful or laid back over here. He’s gonna say, you know what?
He just try he’s just trying to get a raise, or she’s just trying to impress somebody.
They’re not trying to impress anybody. You know what? The spiritually wired to get the job done.
They wanna see it done. They wanna see the organization succeed. They want to see their family succeed.
They want to meet this need.
And so instead of accusing them of trying to have self advancement and trying to, uh, get ahead and trying to be number 1, That’s not their attitude.
You know what they’re doing? They’re just fulfilling their god given goal and their god given desire and and gift to do what.
To get the job done, meet the need, no matter what it is.
But oftentimes, uh, they are misunderstood, and sometimes, it can be hurtful, uh, to them.
Then, of course, the insistence on serving may appear to be a rejection of being served.
For example, if the person has a gift of service, um, is exercising their gift, oftentimes they appear to be well, you you can’t serve me.
Now I think about my mom, sweet mother of mine who loved me to death and loved me the same way she’s in heaven.
And, uh, when I would go to her house and and I had her here in Atlanta with me for a number of years before she went to heaven.
Uh, I’d go to her house and and, uh, no matter what she is gonna take care of everything, I said, well, not so one day, here’s what I did. I said, mom, we sat down at the table.
I said, look. Until you promise me that you’re not gonna get up and try to get me something else on this table to eat when the table’s full anyway.
Uh, I’m not gonna take a bite till you agree that that if that anybody needs to get up, I get up.
I serve you. Oh, no. No. No. No. No. Yeah. I said, nope. I’m not taking a bite.
So she said, okay. So we sat down to eat. You know what?
I could just feel her. Well, feel her. Want me to get up said, nope.
I’ll get the ice, and I’ll get the spoons, and I’ll tell you, though, something on the side has nothing to do with this.
One day, she made me this wonderful blueberry Cobbleau.
And so I said, now look, instead of you getting up and getting into some some more, why don’t you just put it on the table?
It’s one of those draft dishes about so long. And I said, just put it on the table.
They won’t have to get up anymore.
And you won’t have to get up, and we won’t have to argue about that. It’s okay.
So she and I got to talking.
She started on that end after I turned on this end.
And before we finished talking, we ate the whole thing.
Now I guess that’s one asset to being willing to be served.
But, anyway, what I want you to say is this was this is the way she is wired.
If something needed to be done, she did it.
And sometimes people can be misunderstood because, you know, people who have the gift of service, they that’s the way they think.
And that is if it’s a need, I do it and not someone, especially someone that, um, I may, um, love and let me love dearly.
Well, sometimes that person’s misunderstood because their interest in practical things.
Their interest in practical things may be judged as a person being uninterested in spiritual things. Well, you’re interested.
You’re willing to meet my physical need here. You’re willing to meet my financial need.
You’re willing to do this and do that. What about spiritual things? Well, you know what?
The personal gift of service can be just as godly, just as spiritual, just as much a prayer for you.
They can be an awesome, servant of the living god, no matter what their vocation or occupation may be.
And it’s not that they’re not interested in things. Let me give you an example.
Every Sunday morning, when we come to our little office back in the back right behind the auditorium here, There’s always no exception.
I can’t even give you an exception. Always a bowl of fruit.
It’s gonna be bananas, watermelon, sometimes strawberries, all time grapes, um, pineapple. It’s always gonna be there.
Now this has been going on ever since we’ve been here.
And, uh, I don’t know a whole lot about that lady, and I did not know a whole lot better at all, much better at all, but I just knew that every Sunday morning, there was going to be some fruit there.
And she never asked me in appreciation. She never asked me in recognition.
In fact, I didn’t even know who it was for a long time till she came in a little little late after I’d already gotten there one Sunday morning, and, uh, I found out who she was.
She went looking for recognition. That’s just what she wanted to do. Loves to serve the lord.
Whatever whatever the need. You know what? She’s gonna show up sooner or later.
And so sometimes, we don’t realize that a person, while they’re meeting physical needs, they’re walking in the spirit of in the living god.
Just as god is the person who’s preaching the gospel of doing something else.
But sometimes they’re misunderstood, and somebody says, well, you know, the only thing they’re interested in is some practical need.
Then, of course, One of the last things would be this, sometimes that person, because they are geared that way, they can appear to be sidetracking their employer’s direction because in the midst of a daily work, here’s a person they can see that going through some problem.
Maybe they’re going through a divorce or maybe their kids are in trouble or whatever it might be.
And right in the middle of work that day, this person wants to take time to talk to them or to listen to them.
Give them an opportunity to cry. Give them an opportunity to share their heart.
And so it may be though, you’re not, you know, getting the job done so forth. No.
It’s just that they see this pressing, crying need. And what do they wanna do?
They listen, regardless of their job, they’re gonna wanna take time to meet this need over here.
You know what else they’re gonna do? They’re gonna come back and get that done.
But it may appear to be that way. Now watch this.
This does not mean that you do not serve god unless you have the gift of service.
All the gifts are given for the purpose of serving the lord. All of them are given for that.
And we come to the end of this whole series, I’ll show you how each one fits with each other and so forth.
Now how does a person act when they’re walking in the spirit, out of the act when they’re walking in the flesh.
Well, first of all, for example, when a person has the gift of service is in the spirit, they’re very alert.
Alert to what alert to the need, alert to, uh, have that person is feeling, alert to what needs to be done, very alert.
When they get in the flesh, they just owe totally unconscious. They can walk right by need.
They can somebody can be in real trouble. You know, they have no no consciousness of that at all.
They just totally it’s just forget it.
A second thing, when they’re walking in the spirit, that is they’re very hospitable.
That is they want to be with people, love doing that, wanna be a part of this, wanna be a part of that.
When they’re in the flesh, don’t come around. Just forget it. In other words, that alone us.
They don’t wanna have anything to do with anybody. That’s the flesh.
That’s totally unnatural for that person because that’s not the way god geared them.
Naturally, having given them the gift of service, they’re gonna naturally want to be with other people. Why?
Because that’s the place they are able to exercise their gift.
Thirdly, person with a gift of, uh, service is gonna express generosity. Why?
Because they’re willing to give up their time, their love, their emotions, their mind, their body, they’re willing to give whatever’s necessary to get this particular need met in somebody’s life.
When they’re in the flesh, forget it, stingy, tight, and they start thinking about me, myself, and I, what do I have and what do I need and so forth.
Then, of course, when they’re in the in the in the spirit, There’s a joyfulness about them.
You can’t give them too much to do. They’re gonna get it done. They love doing it.
And when they get in the flesh, what happens? Nobody appreciates me. Nobody cares about me.
I work my fingers to the bone, and you know what? And no nobody cares.
I think I just get out. I think it doesn’t walk away. That is pure flesh.
Because if you have the gift observing and you are walking in the spirit. You know what?
You’re gonna be happy. You’re gonna be joyful about it. And it’s a matter of a choice.
Then, of course, that’s flexibility in the spirit.
Things change, whether it’s in your business, in your home, in your relationships, somebody says, well, this is the project, but you know what?
Right now, we need you to do this. I said, well, wait a minute.
Now you’ve already given me this, and and so what happens when you become resistant and you’re inflexible, you’re in the flesh.
Because think about it. Life doesn’t run on a single rail. Don’t we wish it did?
It doesn’t there are many sections and many cross sections.
And so many times in life, we have to be flexible in the circumstance.
Well, a person has gifted service and they’re walking the spirit. They’re flexible. Okay.
You know, we’ll lead that for a long, we’ll get this done. We’ll get that done.
And that person, somehow, they can just get kind of things in getting them done. Get into flesh.
Let me tell you something. You want me to do this? Get off my back.
Whenever it’s when I get this done, I’ll let you know when I can go to the next one.
You know what? That is pure carnality, which is another word for flesh.
Then of course, availability The person who has the gift of service, they make themselves available.
They take great delight in being available. And when they’re in the flesh, self centered.
Don’t ask me to do it. Ask somebody else. They can do it better than I can.
Why do you always ask me? Why does it always end up with me? Well, usually, it doesn’t.
They’re just in deflation. And try to give an excuse.
And when a person gets listen, in every single gift when any one of us gets in the flesh, you know what?
We’re just obnoxious to live with. Because, you know, what happens? Here’s what happens.
In the very way god has wired us, we’ve short circuited, and what caused it to be short circuited itself I want my way because it suits me at this time, personal gift of spirit, not only flexible, but available.
And then, of course, the person with a gift of service what happens, endurance.
Man, they can just hang in there and hang in there and hang in there and get it done.
So where in the world is all that strength come from?
I don’t understand how they can keep doing that and on and on and on. They go.
Well, do you know what? Peter, he gave us an answer right here in, uh, first, Peter, this 4th chapter?
And, uh, you may have turned while ago, but if you didn’t turn to it.
Because this is a wonderful passage of scripture, whatever the gift may be, but especially the gift of service because he because he mentions this 1, 4th chapter 10th verse.
Listen, what he says now. As each one has received a special gift, unique gift, employed, put it to work in serving one another, as good stewards in the manifold grace of god.
That is he’s given you this gift for the purpose of doing what, giving yourself away to others being fruitful in the kingdom of god, accomplishing the task that god wants to accomplish.
Now whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterance of god.
Now watch this service. Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which god supplies.
Do you know why the gift of service can just keep on enduring because that person, when they’re walking in the spirit, they understand they understand the source of their strength.
The source of their strength is god. Now watch this carefully. You listen, say a man.
Whatever god calls you to do, he’s gonna enable you to do.
However, much strength, it requires god’s gonna give it. And I think sometimes to amazement to myself.
That on Sunday morning, I can walk out here and preach twice about just about an hour each time, walk away, not be tired, wonder sometimes myself, why am I not tired?
And you know what it is? It’s the pure strength of god.
Whatever god calls you to do, god will strengthen you and enable you to do it.
And so when a person says, well, you know I just don’t think I can I don’t I just don’t think I can do it?
I’m I’m too tired. Listen to what he says.
He says In this passage, it is the strength of god.
The person has a gift of service. The person has a gift of service is gonna be working.
This out of the strength of god who went listened because when they don’t and they get in the flesh, they don’t have any more energy than anybody else does.
You mark this down. Walking out of the spirit, mark it down.
When you are out of and you are out of the spirit, there is an energy drain in your life.
I guaranteed some energy drain y’all.
When you’re out of the spirit, it takes more energy to do whatever you’re doing.
When you are living with known sin in your life, it’s an energy drain.
You know why? Because your mind is divided. You say all my mind’s not divided.
Yes, it is. Your mind is divided when you’re living in sin.
When you’re living in known disobedience to god, and you know it.
You and there’s an energy train because, listen, here’s what you don’t have. All you have is physical human strength.
You do not have the divine energy of the living god to enable you to walk in sin, to enable you to walk in disobedience, to enable you to walk outside the world of god, that’s human strength, and I’ll tell you it’s gonna give out.
And proof is, you know, what happens to people that gives out?
They go to the drug, alcohol, or something to prick them up so they can do it.
Just prick them up so they can do it.
How many people perform and who become very famous and so forth.
And then the world just falls at their feet and ray over how well they can sing and do this or do that or act or whatever it might be.
And you know what? You listen. You get them off the stuff, and they take a nose dye.
How many of them end up on drugs, alcohol, committing suicide? You you know why?
You cannot perform a part from the power of the living god without it being an energy drain in your life.
And finally, it gets to you until it kills you one way or the other.
The person with the gift of service knows it is only in the power and the strength of the living god that we can do what we’re called to do.
And once you get into sin and you depend on anything else but the power of god sooner or later, you become an addict, sooner, later, you fall.
Sooner, later, you fail. Sooner, later, you get so discouraged.
And what happens is you end up stepping out of the will of god and you waste and ruin your life.
You don’t want to live that kind of life.
You want to be fruitful for the kingdom of god. Nobody may ever know your name he does.
No one may ever see your faithfulness, he sees it.
No one may ever know your works he’s counted every single one of them.
And one of these days, what really matters will matter and will work.
The lord Jesus Christ will reward you He will reward you, not with the world’s applause, but with the recognition and the rewards of the son of god.
And father how grateful we are that whatever you call us to do, we can do with all of our heart, not looking for recognition, just doing what you call us to do and enjoying the call.
And recognizing that whatever and however you want to rate it, good, bad, or indifferent.
And however you wanna see it, that we succeeded or failed. None of that’s the issue.
We know that the issue is to the best of our god given ability.
We want to obey you, fulfill your purpose. We bless you. Thank you.
Praise you and rejoice in you in Jesus’ name. Amen.