Have you ever done something extravagant for someone else? Have you served others, purposely taking on a lower status, position, or job? Have you honored someone else through your service? Or do you believe lowering yourself to serve others is something you could never do?
Serving others can be a challenge for us. Our culture wants us to believe we are above serving one another. We are inundated with messages that we deserve more, which includes holding ourselves in higher regard. So much so that we become haughty and prideful.
Let’s not make the mistake of serving one another means we must have a lower esteem of ourselves. In fact, just the opposite. It requires inner strength, high esteem, and confidence in who we are to serve others. What it does not require is pride. Instead, pride must be removed from our minds.
Jesus held himself with high regard, high self-esteem, and was fully confident in who He was. Yet, He stooped to serve His disciples and washed their feet, just as household servant would have done. There was no false bravado. There was no pride. There was no haughtiness. Jesus simply demonstrated what a humble, though self-assured, person would do for His friends.
Following Jesus’s example does not mean we must wash feet. It does mean giving up our pridefulness and looking for opportunities to serve one another. That service comes in many forms. It can be as simple as getting a glass of tea for someone. It can be as complex as walking with someone through a traumatic time in their lives. It requires us to set aside our desires, our uncomfortableness, and serve out of love for one another.
I pray we all choose to follow Jesus’ example. I pray we choose to serve one another. I pray each one of us will rid ourselves of pridefulness, be confident in who we are, and put others before ourselves. Follow Jesus’ example. Be rid of pridefulness. Be confident. Serve one another.
John 13:5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.
Marty Pressey 