Last week, the sermon focused on the struggle found in the process of being increasingly transformed into the likeness of Christ. This week, Part 5 of our series highlights our service to others and God. We learn that if we base our service out of obligation or guilt, serving will seem more like a chore. However, if the motivation of our service stems from love, as it should according to the Scripture, then serving will bring about joy and connectedness to God and others.

In fact, love and service are meant to be inseparable. We see the levels of enthusiasm a fan can demonstrate for a football team because of his or her love for it; so how much more should we wholeheartedly serve others because of our love for Christ? Sometimes we may not feel like persevering in love-based service. Thus, we may need a heart check as an intentional act of allowing God to help us remember His goodness, faithfulness and love towards us. This helps us to recall why we first loved and rekindles our heart towards serving.

We are able to move towards a love-inspired service when we realize that we have been claimed and captured by the love of God (Psalm 68:18). Likewise, He has made us to be a gift to others (Numbers 8:18-19). As we lovingly serve those around us, the fullness of God’s presence in Christ Jesus is manifest more and more on earth (Ephesians 4:11-13).