Life Mentor ~ Servant

Many people think of Jesus Christ as a suppressor ~ of personal desires, thoughts, actions, lifestyle.  He's seen as a demanding savior who says, "My way to heaven or the highway to hell."  They get hung-up on the after-life stuff and forget the mind-bending reality that He walked the earth as a man.  He knows our struggles and joy.  His desire is that we know heaven right here on earth ~ not a yippy -skippy kind of heaven because we are, after all, in a world filled with trouble ~ but to know and embrace an attitude that allows us to not merely whether the storms but to embrace life.

So whether you are a believer, a fence-sitter, a questioner or a nay-sayer, a study of Christ's life can enhance not only our own but our interaction with, and therefore the lives of, others.

Meet the roles of Jesus as a life mentor:   servant leader

serve - (v) to work for, provide for, supply to, fight for, assist
servant - (n) someone expressing submission, recognizance, or debt to another.
leader - (n) a person who leads others along the way, a guide
humility - (n) lack of pride 

The Son of God came to serve and not be served.  He was the model of humility in everyday actions and a true servant leader.  I'm betting more than one of us squirms at the words "humility" and "servant" because our culture prefers that we be self-serving, served and boastful.

No one who walks the earth, then or now, had the pedigree or power of Christ, yet His entire sojourn on the planet was to serve to the point of death in exchange for our life.  He was "you-oriented" not "me-oriented" in His every action.  Oops a far cry from my daily actions.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke18:14)

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you....just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matt 20:25,26,28)

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:1-5)

Did you catch that?  Jesus knowingly washed the feet of the very man who was going to betray Him to His death.  Who does that kind of thing?  It makes my having to take my Mom to 14 daily cancer treatments seem like a mere inconvenience to me; no make that a privilege to be serving her.
 
My life lesson:  get-over-myself.  I'm not on this planet merely to serve me and in thinking of and serving others, I will be a better person, live a more fulfilling life and bringing encouragement to others.  Sounds good to me.