A Heart that Serves

In the book “A Young Woman After God’s Own Heart” {by Elizabeth George}, I just finished chapter 13 called A Heart That Serves. It starts out by talking about hero’s and how most of them have hearts that serve, and how we can have hearts that serve. God has given us everything we need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3), He blessed us with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), and has gifted us spiritually to serve others (1 Corinthians 12:7). So, it’s saying, God has given us everything we will ever need in life, and He expects us to reach out and share what we have with others.

The next part is about learning to reach out. Jesus tells us to give to everyone (Luke 6:30) and to not expect anything in return (verse 35), to give in the generous way God, who is kind to the ungrateful and wicked, gives (verse 35), and to care for others by giving (verse 38).

So how can you and I go about giving in this way? How can we learn to let our hearts overflow with care for others? How can we begin to reach out and serve others? She (Elizabeth George) listed a few ideas:

•  Be there-- When reaching out to others, we need to first be there. Your presence may be a source of comfort and help to others. You may not always know exactly what to say or do, but you can be there. So, if someone is suffering, you can at least go up to her and stand by her, speak with her, and put your arm around her shoulder. But first you must be there!

• Be a Giver--In Proverbs 3:27 it says “do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.” So open your heart and give. Give a smile, a greeting, the interested question, the touch and a hug. These are small things that mean a lot to others.

• Be bold--When God puts someone in your path who is suffering or hurting, don’t think, “I’ve got to find someone to help her. I need to find a pastor” No, you be bold. First, reach out to the person, find out what the need is, and then go find a pastor or someone else to help if you need to. Maybe all the person needs is a shoulder to cry on or someone to cry with her. And maybe that someone can be you!

• Be generous--By this she means not only with things or money, but with praise, encouragement, thanks, a greeting, kindness, good deeds, and notes of appreciation. You and I can choose to give these tiny blessings that cost us so little and mean so much to others, or we can choose not to give them. So when someone shares something difficult from her life in your Bible study group, tell her that you appreciated what she had to say…and that you appreciate her. Thank your Bible study leader for the lesson and for her hard work. Go another step and tell her what meant the most to you from the lesson, what you learned. Tell those who organized your church group outing or camp or who opened their homes to your group that you are thankful for their hard work.

The next section is Learn to Look Out, and I think I’ll save that for another post. I was really encouraged by this book so far and this chapter subject is something I really need to work on; reaching out to others who are hurting. That’s most of the reason why I started this blog; to reach out to others! I think the most I need to work on is being bold. I’m kinda a shy person and sometimes have a hard time talking to people I don’t really know. And if I don’t talk to them, how can I see if they are hurting? Or be able to reach out to them? So, pray for me as I try to be more bold for God. :] Another one is being generous with my praise, encouragement, kindness, good deeds, and notes of appreciation. I think maybe we all have trouble with those 5. I need to be a better encourager and praise people around me. You never know how it might help someone to just say “thank you” or to do an act of kindness. Hope you were as encouraged as I was with this chapter! I’ll try to type up the rest and have it on here soon!! :] Have a blessed week!

 Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, 

because…your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58