READ: JOHN 15:1-17; 1 CORINTHIANS 3:5-11; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-13

If you’ve been part of a church, you’ve probably been told that, as Christians, we are called to serve others, help the hurting, and bring about justice (Micah 6:8; Matthew 25:35-40). That’s part of how we participate in the kingdom of God. And we also know that Jesus will return to right every wrong, make all things new, and get rid of sin and death forever. So, if we know that Jesus is going to come fix everything, why do we bother to do anything?

This is a question I’ve bumped into in my walk with Jesus. It’s true that if I did nothing but sit twiddling my thumbs all day, Jesus’s plan to return and restore all of creation would not be thwarted in the slightest. But I think this mindset misses the point of the gospel.

When we put our trust in Jesus, His Spirit dwells within us and transforms our hearts in ways that compel us to serve (Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 5:5; Philippians 2:13). When God shows us how deeply He loves us, we can’t help but love others. When He shows us how utterly good He is, we want others to experience that goodness. When He shows us the things that break His heart, our hearts break, too. When we realize how He has served us, we are drawn to serve others. When we’ve experienced the power of the gospel—that Jesus, out of His great love for us, died on the cross and rose again from the dead, and that He desires for His people and His creation to be made whole—that power takes root in us. It shapes our desires into God’s desires. And that desire moves us to action.

So, through the power of the gospel, we can serve others out of love, hope, and peace. Not out of anxiety that things won’t get done, or fear that we’d better serve or we’ll get in trouble, or shame for not living up to certain expectations, but out of an overflowing of God’s love and a deep desire to see His goodness on display. Until the day we die or Jesus returns, we can serve because, from the very core of our being, we want to. Because Jesus and the wholeness He brings is just too good to keep to ourselves. • Taylor Eising

• When have you felt a desire to serve others? What was that like?

• How can knowing Jesus’s love for us compel us to share that love with others?

We love each other because he loved us first. 1 John 4:19 (NLT)