Hi everybody. Starting our second month of talking through the core values. And this month we have Servant Hearted as a core value. For Servant Hearted, the main points of that are:
- We display the Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control).
- We support others by putting their interests ahead of our own.
- We lend a hand when it is needed.
- We help others even when it is uncomfortable.
And I was drawn to a scripture in Philippians for this. Philippians 2 verses 3 – 8. It says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Sometimes people hear the word Servant Leadership, and they think I need to do it for somebody. And I will say this. We’ve been having lots of discussions as a team that at times when we do something for someone, we take away their ability to do it, and many times it can diminish the people that we serve. So we’ve been talking about the idea, you do something for somebody who is struggling with something, you Do It For Them, and then you Do It With Them, and then you Cheer Them On. We really want to encourage people!
So I want you to be careful in thinking about servant leadership as I have to do something for somebody else. Now there is certainly a place for that. Don’t hear what I’m not saying that, but there is a fine line. We start doing too much for someone, we’re taking away their ability to thrive.
We’ve talked a lot about how, in order for us to serve well, we need to love God and we need to stay aligned with God so we can love others. I read a book on servant leadership a number of years ago, and the author of that book defined Love as the act or acts of extending yourself for others by identifying and meeting their legitimate needs, seeking their greatest good. So legitimate needs. Think about what that means.
So I want to challenge you this week as you’re watching your teammates, as you’re interacting with your teammates… how are you showing that Love when you serve? How are you connecting with your team when you serve? And be sure to fill out one of the Rock cards. Recognize, appreciate your teammates and we are thankful for all of you. So have a great week.
-Jayson