Article November 20, 1954 Issue

THE BLESSINGS OF UNSELFED SERVICE

WALTER BRENZIKOFER

True service is giving of oneself. It is being motivated by Christ Jesus' rule (Luke 6:38), "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, ... and running over, shall men give into your bosom."

God, infinite Love, is the source and giver of all good, and man is ever reflecting God and His unceasing giving. We experience this continuous outpouring of God's goodness when we serve, for true service is an activity of the Christ through which God manifests Himself in intelligence, dominion, ability, and love. Reflecting Truth and Love in serving, we lay hold of the substance of Life. Therefore one who would progress and reach his real self, made in the divine likeness, must learn to dedicate himself to the service of his Maker and of his brother men.

The Christly qualities that are best adapted to make one a true servant are humility and unselfed love. During the last supper Jesus' disciples disputed about "which of them should be accounted the greatest" (Luke 22:24). To settle the dispute the Master said, "He that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve." And in John's record we read that to teach them by his example one more lesson of love, Jesus poured water into a basin and "began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded" (13:5). Peter remonstrated at such a lowly act done by him whom they called Lord and Master, an act usually performed by a slave. But Jesus said to him, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." Peter, quick to grasp a vital point in Christian education, immediately replied, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head."

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