I remember reading a book which provided a summary of the biblical descriptions of the church. It was (and is) the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the people of the Spirit, the household of God, a community of disciples, etc.

Another one was “a servant people.” Jesus’ people are a people who serve. This based on Jesus himself. He came as “a servant” (Philippians 2:7), “to serve” (Matthew 20:28), and is among us “as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).

When we think about servanthood, we often think about helping others. And yes, that’s a big part of it. But there’s more.

It fulfils something deep inside of us. It glorifies God, imitates Jesus, and blesses others. Because of that we experience a certain degree of fulfilment because we are doing, in part, what we were designed to do.

There was a report on the well-being of Australian youth. It was a non-religious, government report. What was said about their youth is true for youth in North America as well. Author Richard Eckersley wrote: “Robbed of a broader meaning to our lives we appear to have entered an era of mass obsession, usually with ourselves: our appearance, our health and fitness, our work, our sex lives, our children’s performance, our personal development.”

He went on to say: “It may be, then, the greatest wrong we are doing to our children is not the broken families or scarcity of jobs… but the creation of a culture that gives them nothing greater than themselves to believe in—no god, no king, no country.”*

How very true!

Serve God and others—perhaps at work, among your friends, at church, in the community. Encourage servanthood among youth as well. 

Let’s be the people of Christ. It’s not just about providing help, but hope! Not just to others, but to ourselves.

Jesus is among us as “one who serves.”

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Notes:

-*As quoted in: John Dickson, A Doubter’s Guide to the Ten Commandments (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 161.
-The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on July 7, 2025.
-Bible quotes are from the NIV.