What is sacrifice when it comes to being a servant? It’s saying “No” to me for your sake.
“…by becoming obedient to the point of death.” (Phil. 2:8)
In demonstrating His submissiveness and humility, consider Jesus:
• Abandoning the glory He shared with the Father would have been enough, but He went further, He became a glory-abandoning human.
• Being a glory-abandoning human would have been enough, but he went further: He became a glory-abandoning human servant.
• Becoming a glory-abandoning human servant would have been enough, but he went further: He became a glory-abandoning human servant who died only 3 years into his ministry.
• Becoming a glory-abandoning human servant would have been enough, but he went further: He became a glory-abandoning human servant who died only 3 years into his ministry, naked, beaten, bruised, by way of a Roman cross.
Jesus was determined to sacrifice himself and his ‘image’ to make eternity possible for us.
Where the previous step is all about taking care of the needs of others – this step is the sacrifices I am willing to take in order to serve others. It’s the recognition that in order for me to effectively serve you, I am going to have to sacrifice some things in order to achieve that.
What are you willing to give up to effectively, even radically, serve your wife, your kids, your co-workers. You may have to say things like:
• In order to sacrifice for my wife I am pausing things that I like to do to achieve the things that help her succeed.
• In order to sacrifice for my kids I am pausing my hobbies in order to help them in theirs.
• In order to sacrifice for the people in my church I am doing 2-3 hours less of my life in order to serve in a ministry.
The flesh/old-self will continually fight against Christlike servanthood. We will want to resort to worldly-like servanthood. Jesus-like servanthood brings us back to:
Attitude (An Attitude of Selflessness)
Emptying (An Emptying of Rights)
Posture (Posture Towards God)
Identification (Put Yourself in the Shoes of Others)
Subjection (My Goal is to Serve You)
Sacrifice (Saying No to Me for Your Sake)