The Lesson of Service

I was talking with a teenager the other day and we were discussing the art of sacrificial love.

She shared with me that one of her family members often gets upset when someone from the dinner tables offers to get her a refill on her water, or a second helping of food as a courtesy while they are up for themselves. She said the common response to this sort of action is, “She can get it for herself.”

And while I think there’s a lot of truth to the parenting heart behind this comment, I wonder how ineffective it really is.

Because while we’re teaching our kids to “fend for themselves”, we also might be disregarding the important lesson of “serving one another.”

Aren’t we to “take delight in honoring one another”? Romans 12:10
Aren’t we to “use our gifts to serve one another”? 1 Peter 4:10
Aren’t we supposed to reflect the one who “came not to be served, but to serve others”? Mt 20:28

I wonder.

And I am that parent who gives chores and expects independent behavior while preparing my child to leave the nest. I take seriously the gentle nudge toward releasing her into the wild, empowered and fully qualified to contribute greatly to society.
 
But…

Because the value of developing service-minded, others-focused world changers who learn to execute sacrificial love by way of serving selflessly, may just outrank our good intentions to teach independency, which improperly develops a self-centered mindset.

Oh yes… let’s teach them to have a voice. But to use it tenderheartedly to reach out and offer love and grace and acts of selfless service.

It matters.