Developing a Servant’s Heart: The Struggle of a Self-Centered Society
As I start looking deeper and deeper into my life, I am amazed at how far I have come — yet I know there is a long road ahead of me. We have all heard at some point in our lives that we need to serve others, especially those who need it most. I have known this for my entire life, and I continue to hear more about it even now. However, it wasn’t until I started my new job and heard the words “servant’s heart” and understood their way of seeing this concept that I started to look deeper into it. Obviously there isn’t a single or definitive answer to what having a servant’s heart means, so I will explain what it means to me; hopefully, my interpretation makes you think about how you can implement this concept and improve this portion of your life.
To start, I want to give a couple of definitions that I feel will help clarify my overall message. The first one is How do you see success? Do you measure success in terms of money, possessions, or personal achievements? This answer may seem straightforward, but I measure success as the number of people I can impact through my life, whether spiritually or through volunteering. The second definition is What do you think when you hear this word? I would say that it is common to think about someone who serves us, and more often than not, that servant is seen as inferior. This idea of inferiority is a big misconception about the total meaning of this word. Oftentimes we get caught up in the definition of servant as it applies to others rather than to ourselves, whereas the word servant in terms of oneself truly means to put the needs of others before our own. In my mind, the people who apply this in their daily lives are closer to reaching heaven.
Now let’s dive into what having a servant’s heart means and how this is connected with success. Being a servant does mean to serve others, but it should not be seen as been inferior. Being a servant gets us one step closer to heaven, which should be our ultimate goal. Think of life as a ladder, with thousands and thousands of stairs for each of the days in our lives — the decisions we make each day either help us climb to the next step or hold us where we are. Are you climbing your daily step? We as a society need to learn how to be more vulnerable and how to open up our hearts to others — we must humble ourselves to help others live a better life. We need to start putting the needs of others ahead of our own whenever we can; this does not mean that we must go into misery but that more often than not we should look to serve others.
It seems obvious that some of the biggest problems society has are rooted in selfishness. We constantly are using the phrases “I need”, “I want”, “I should” — we always put ourselves first. Being selfish is not only an action, as we can also be selfish in our own thoughts. I am sure at some point in our lives we have thought that we are more than someone else; this is simply not true. We are all sons and daughters of God, and He created us to be equal. God tells us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. So why did we become so selfish? Once we realize that the good of others is our good we will grow in faith and as a humanity. We have the power to make an impact on society through our daily decisions. Always choose to love others, and before you know it, they will be filled with love and will start loving others. Imagine if we all apply this mentality to everything we do in life — we would impact so many people! How are you developing your servant’s heart today to love others?
I hope you enjoyed this blog. Let’s develop our servant’s hearts and grow as sons and daughters of God. The road is long but He is always walking right next to us.
Originally published at https://www.luisfelipeduque.com on February 27, 2018.
