Back and Next - Back and NextOpinion: Servant – master relationship at work
Friday, November 21, 2008
Everybody desires to be great, but true greatness is a sure reward for stewardship. Jesus said, "…The greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves" (Luke 22:25-26).
That means the pathway to greatness is service. If you want to be great in this life, never seek to be known but seek to serve. Look for ways to contribute rather than what to consume. How do you serve?
Serve Your Generation
Greatness does not jump on people; it is the reward of committed service. If you are not service-motivated you are not living, but only existing. As a matter of fact, life and living is all about service.
The Bible says concerning David in Acts 13:36, "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers…" You know why David is still being remembered today, over three thousand years after he passed on? It is because he served his generation. It is time for us to do likewise! Let us serve our generation, for that is the way to greatness!
Service is not a function of position; it is a mission. It is not the position that you occupy that determines your level of service. Service is a lifetime event. It is a function of attitude. The same thing with David, even as a king he served his people. Please make yourself a gift to your generation no matter the position you occupy.
I know you want to excel in your career, but are you using that career to advance other people’s destinies or are you only concerned about acquiring money? Whatever your profession or calling is, if service is not your motivation, you cannot excel in it. Even if you succeed, it will be temporary.
The only reason many people will not taste greatness is because they lack the service mentality. God will only bless a man with money when He knows that he will use it as a means to serve others and not as a weapon for oppression. Please reflect over your life? Are you serving your generation, beginning with your immediate family?
Are you an asset or a liability? Your actual value in life is measured by your service. You cannot be more valuable to your community than how much and how well you serve the community! The true value of a man is measured in terms of the service he has rendered to his generation. Your life is a gift from God and what you do with it is a gift to your generation. Those who make others live don’t die.
Those who ensure that others are fed never suffer hunger. Life is not designed for self. It is in taking care of others that you will be cared for. When you meet the needs of others, your needs will also be met. The power to take back is always preceded by the power to lay down. Those who don’t lay down their lives by serving others will never rise up in life.
Count It A Privilege
The world system teaches us to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way to ride on people but wisdom says, "Count it a privilege to serve." A servant thinks of privilege, a non-servant thinks of opportunity. Wherever you are, seek to serve and not to be recognized. In your family circle, be a servant to all.
As a husband, serve your wife, and as a wife, serve your husband. Serve your children; and be a servant to your parents. Don’t watch them suffer. Service never reduces a man, it rather enhances his status. Let it be in your heart to serve and soon God will locate you for greatness. Your service keeps speaking for you long after you are gone. The more committed you are in service, the more the generation after you will speak of you.
Serve With Humility!
It takes humility to be a committed servant. The reason many cannot serve is because they lack humility; and they exhibit major traits of pride, such as self- seeking and over estimation of self. Until you die to self you cannot serve effectively. So, wherever you find yourself, serve with humility.
Never bother yourself about who is ahead of you, rather be more concerned about who to serve. Many have been registered for greatness but are still on the floor because they need to work their way into it by being humble in service.
In trying to make your service effective, never attempt outshining your superiors. Always make those above you feel comfortably superior; and in your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite: you may inspire fear and insecurity. Everyone has insecurities.
When you show yourself in the world, you naturally stir up all kinds of resentment, envy and other manifestations of insecurity. This is to be expected anyway! The truth is, you cannot spend your life worrying about the feelings of other people.
However, with those above you, you must adopt a different approach because attempting to outshine your superiors is the worst mistake you can ever make. It is deadly but common misperception to believe that by displaying your gifts and talents, you are winning the affection of your superior. He may fake appreciation, but at his first opportunity he will replace you with someone less intelligent, less attractive and less threatening.
Make your masters appear more brilliant than they. Never take your present position for granted, and never let any favours you receive go to your head. If possible, commit harmless mistakes that will not hurt you in the long run but will give you the chance to ask for your master’s help.
Every master adores such request, and would count it a privilege to bestow his gift of experience on his subordinates. If your ideas are more brilliant than your master’s, ascribe them to him, in as public a manner as possible. Make it clear that your advice is merely an echo of his advice.
If you are naturally more sociable and generous than your master, be careful not to be the cloud that blocks his radiance from others. Make him appear as the sun around which everyone revolves, radiating power and brilliance, the centre of attention. Never imagine that because your superior loves you, you can do anything you want. History is crowded with people (favourites) who fell out of favour by taking their status for granted, for daring to outshine.
Always seek to win your master’s sympathy. Any attempt to impress him with your grace and generosity can prove fatal. It is not weakness to disguise your strengths if in the end they will lead to greatness. By letting others outshine you, you remain in control instead of being a victim of their insecurity. Never miscalculate your importance, because many people have paid for it with their lives. All these can be summarized in one word as MEEKNESS. Meekness does not define weakness, but great strength brought under control.
Pastor Israel Etimis the senior pastor of Winners Chapel International, The Gambia. He can be contacted on : 9917917 or 4461577
That means the pathway to greatness is service. If you want to be great in this life, never seek to be known but seek to serve. Look for ways to contribute rather than what to consume. How do you serve?
Serve Your Generation
Greatness does not jump on people; it is the reward of committed service. If you are not service-motivated you are not living, but only existing. As a matter of fact, life and living is all about service.
The Bible says concerning David in Acts 13:36, "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers…" You know why David is still being remembered today, over three thousand years after he passed on? It is because he served his generation. It is time for us to do likewise! Let us serve our generation, for that is the way to greatness!
Service is not a function of position; it is a mission. It is not the position that you occupy that determines your level of service. Service is a lifetime event. It is a function of attitude. The same thing with David, even as a king he served his people. Please make yourself a gift to your generation no matter the position you occupy.
I know you want to excel in your career, but are you using that career to advance other people’s destinies or are you only concerned about acquiring money? Whatever your profession or calling is, if service is not your motivation, you cannot excel in it. Even if you succeed, it will be temporary.
The only reason many people will not taste greatness is because they lack the service mentality. God will only bless a man with money when He knows that he will use it as a means to serve others and not as a weapon for oppression. Please reflect over your life? Are you serving your generation, beginning with your immediate family?
Are you an asset or a liability? Your actual value in life is measured by your service. You cannot be more valuable to your community than how much and how well you serve the community! The true value of a man is measured in terms of the service he has rendered to his generation. Your life is a gift from God and what you do with it is a gift to your generation. Those who make others live don’t die.
Those who ensure that others are fed never suffer hunger. Life is not designed for self. It is in taking care of others that you will be cared for. When you meet the needs of others, your needs will also be met. The power to take back is always preceded by the power to lay down. Those who don’t lay down their lives by serving others will never rise up in life.
Count It A Privilege
The world system teaches us to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way to ride on people but wisdom says, "Count it a privilege to serve." A servant thinks of privilege, a non-servant thinks of opportunity. Wherever you are, seek to serve and not to be recognized. In your family circle, be a servant to all.
As a husband, serve your wife, and as a wife, serve your husband. Serve your children; and be a servant to your parents. Don’t watch them suffer. Service never reduces a man, it rather enhances his status. Let it be in your heart to serve and soon God will locate you for greatness. Your service keeps speaking for you long after you are gone. The more committed you are in service, the more the generation after you will speak of you.
Serve With Humility!
It takes humility to be a committed servant. The reason many cannot serve is because they lack humility; and they exhibit major traits of pride, such as self- seeking and over estimation of self. Until you die to self you cannot serve effectively. So, wherever you find yourself, serve with humility.
Never bother yourself about who is ahead of you, rather be more concerned about who to serve. Many have been registered for greatness but are still on the floor because they need to work their way into it by being humble in service.
In trying to make your service effective, never attempt outshining your superiors. Always make those above you feel comfortably superior; and in your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite: you may inspire fear and insecurity. Everyone has insecurities.
When you show yourself in the world, you naturally stir up all kinds of resentment, envy and other manifestations of insecurity. This is to be expected anyway! The truth is, you cannot spend your life worrying about the feelings of other people.
However, with those above you, you must adopt a different approach because attempting to outshine your superiors is the worst mistake you can ever make. It is deadly but common misperception to believe that by displaying your gifts and talents, you are winning the affection of your superior. He may fake appreciation, but at his first opportunity he will replace you with someone less intelligent, less attractive and less threatening.
Make your masters appear more brilliant than they. Never take your present position for granted, and never let any favours you receive go to your head. If possible, commit harmless mistakes that will not hurt you in the long run but will give you the chance to ask for your master’s help.
Every master adores such request, and would count it a privilege to bestow his gift of experience on his subordinates. If your ideas are more brilliant than your master’s, ascribe them to him, in as public a manner as possible. Make it clear that your advice is merely an echo of his advice.
If you are naturally more sociable and generous than your master, be careful not to be the cloud that blocks his radiance from others. Make him appear as the sun around which everyone revolves, radiating power and brilliance, the centre of attention. Never imagine that because your superior loves you, you can do anything you want. History is crowded with people (favourites) who fell out of favour by taking their status for granted, for daring to outshine.
Always seek to win your master’s sympathy. Any attempt to impress him with your grace and generosity can prove fatal. It is not weakness to disguise your strengths if in the end they will lead to greatness. By letting others outshine you, you remain in control instead of being a victim of their insecurity. Never miscalculate your importance, because many people have paid for it with their lives. All these can be summarized in one word as MEEKNESS. Meekness does not define weakness, but great strength brought under control.
Pastor Israel Etimis the senior pastor of Winners Chapel International, The Gambia. He can be contacted on : 9917917 or 4461577
Author: by Pastor Isreal Etim
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