Reflections: The Discipline of Service

One great thing about having time off from work is that i get to immerse myself deeply and slowly in God's word and reflect - allowing my mind to be renewed not with worldly wisdom, but to allow His word and the Holy Spirit to convict me and correct me...
And man, do i need loads of corrections!

Was listening to Ps Benny's sermon on "The Discipline of Service" and was struck by his contrast of true service vs self-centred service.

1. Self-centred service is unduly concerned about impressing others. A sign of this would be a concern about numbers, size, scale, grandeur. Another symptom would be a tendency to somehow keep an eye on whether anyone's watching us serve, to manipulate it such that whenever we are serving, people who count see it or know it. We are only happy when our service is noticed.
True service says, "Don't look at me, look at my God." Like, when Peter raised Tabitha from the dead. Raising someone from the dead IS a big deal. Someone who serves selfishly would probably have released a few DVDs, write a few books, speak at many seminars, run a course on 7 Ways of Raising People from the Dead etc. But Peter did it quietly, then, as if nothing happened, stayed at Simon the tanner's house for a few days. How ordinary, without any fanfare.

2. Self-centred service demands to serve. When i feel like it, when i feel it is my time, i demand to serve in the place i want to. It is based not on the needs of those i am serving, but on my feelings of wanting to serve.
True service is given freely when needed, and can be withheld when not needed.

3. Self-centred service is love for the service, true service is love for the people you serve. Ps Benny spoke about how one day, Ps Kong Hee shared with him that City Harvest is a strong church because his sheep know that he is willing to lay down his life for them. Ps Benny reflected and found that he was willing, instead, to lay down his sheep for his life! And he realized that he loved what he was doing to them - preaching, teaching etc, rather than actually loving them. And that realisation prompted him to change.

It was this point that struck me.
How true indeed.

Do i love the kids such that i am willing to lay down my life for them?
Do i love my students such that i am willing to lay down my life for them?
Do i love my CG such that i am willing to lay down my life for them?

Or do i just love "playing" kids ministry, "playing" teacher, "playing" CG and church?

True service IS sacrificial and selfless.
Jesus was a true servant.
He laid down His life for me.
I want to learn to be a true servant too.