I’ve spent my whole life in the church. My Dad was a youth volunteer at our church, so I spent every Saturday and Sunday there. Serving was something that I felt was just expected of me. I volunteered with the preschool ministry and various church events during the week. However, I never really knew why Jesus calls us, as His followers, to serve others. It wasn’t until I became involved with some youth ministries again in college that I began to see the importance of service.

To understand why service is important for us as believers, I think we need to look at what God’s view on service is. And what better way than to look at how Jesus lived while He was here on earth. Jesus came here to serve us. The whole purpose of Him coming to earth in human form was to die for all of our sins.

Philippians 2 says:

5 In your relationships with one another,
have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God
did not consider equality with God
something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

This is the ultimate form of service.
He laid down His life for us. How awesome is this?

Mark 10:45 reads, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” How then, as followers of Christ, should we serve others? In saying that Jesus did not come to be served, this shows what our mindset should be! He wasn’t in the mindset of coming here to be served as Mark says; even though He deserves to be served more than anyone or anything. But instead, He came here to serve. I think for us, serving is more of a mindset than just action. It’s humbling yourself before God and others; putting others’ lives and needs before your own. This definitely does not come naturally; it’s more natural for us to put our own needs first and to serve ourselves. Therefore, we have to actively choose to serve others every day.

On Wednesday, September 21st, we had our service night for Impact. We went to West Park Christian Church, just 5 minutes from campus. Each Wednesday, they pick up a ton of kids from the neighborhood and bring them back to the church to feed them and show them the love of Jesus. I am a social work major, and I am currently completing an internship at an elementary school near West Park Christian Church. Going into the service night, I was hoping to see some of the kids I work with. And God awed me completely. I saw a lot of kids that I see each day in my internship. Because of this, I was able to form stronger relationships with some of the kids I work with every day. At a school you can’t exactly talk about Jesus with the students. But, God had this all planned out: that I would intern at a school that serves the same community as the church that Impact partners with. He provided a way that I can share Him with them. Now, when they see Miss Meaghan at school, they can ask me more things about who God is. And I am so incredibly humbled to have an opportunity to show them that; that God would choose me to serve Him in that way.

Serving children in various ministries like West Park and E-Club at Horizon Central has taught me more in my life than anything else. It is so difficult to explain the genuineness of a child’s love; there aren’t enough words to describe it. If you’ve worked with kids, then you definitely know what I’m talking about. They just love you no matter what. They don’t care what you wear, if you have makeup on, what you look like, if you’re successful, nothing. They just want to love you, and be loved by you. This has shown me the closest thing to unconditional love besides God’s love for us.

Because of this, I have begun to see why serving others is important. I used to think I was doing others a favor by serving them (and of course we are helping others when we give our time and energy to serve them). However, God has actually taught me through serving kids. He’s taught me things like I need to humble myself daily. That I need to serve even when I don’t feel like it. That I need to be putting others’ needs before my own. God has shaped and continues to shape my character through this service, so that I become more like Him. God has used service to show me more of Him and to direct my steps to follow Him more closely.

Ultimately, serving others is serving Jesus. In Matthew 25: 35-40, Jesus says that whatever we do for others, we do for Him. In the end, serving others is all for God’s glory. Don’t be afraid to serve others in a way that’s new or makes you feel uncomfortable. God calls us to step out in faith and be obedient to Him. Remember why we are called to serve. Remember what Jesus did for you. Remember what He calls us to do. So go out; be bold; serve others.

God will teach you things you never thought you needed to learn.

Meaghan Couch, VP of Service, Impact Christian Fellowship at IUPUI

It’s summer. For me, that means no more classes. And no more group projects, no more last minute papers! I was so busy this past school year that it was hard for me to spend time reading the Bible, praying, worshiping, and listening to God. It had to be a priority; I had to make it a priority this past year to focus on God. And it was hard. So ideally, with summer, I should have way more time to focus on God, right? It should be easier now that I am not so busy. However, I’ve found that summer makes me really lazy. I’m finally able to relax after the previous school year and instead of spending time with God, a million other things call my attention like Netflix, reading other books, video games, spending time with friends who are home for the summer… the list is endless. All of this commands my attention, until I realize that, wait, I am completely pushing God aside. I am putting other things first; I am making other things my priorities.

Sometimes I think that spending time with God will just come naturally and automatically in my life. Like I don’t have to put in much effort. However, if there is one thing I’ve learned this past year, it’s that God doesn’t become a priority in my life unless I make Him my priority. A priority is something that is viewed (and treated) as more important than all other things; something that comes before all other things. God wants to be the center of our lives. He designed us for this; for us to worship and praise Him. The first two commandments tell us this. Exodus 20:3-4 states “You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on earth or in the sea.” God doesn’t want us to put anything else before Him. Nothing else will satisfy us the way that God satisfies us. In fact, God says that when we put Him first, all of our needs will be provided for us. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” It’s pretty cool that we serve a God who loves us and wants to take care of us. Putting Him first is the BEST decision we can make. This is all great to think about, and talk about; but it is way easier to talk or think about putting God first rather than actually doing it. I often place other things before God without even realizing it.

 So, the question is this: how do we put God at the center of our lives this summer with all of these distractions? For me, making God a priority involves deliberately setting a time each day to spend with God; kind of like making spending time with God a habit. Now, I don’t mean a rigid, ritualistic schedule; but rather intentionally spending time in God’s Word, prayer, and worship each day. When I make the habit of spending time every day with God, He becomes more and more the center of my life. When I make seeking God a habit, my first instinct becomes turning to Him in every situation. He becomes my number one priority; the thing I entrust my heart and soul to. The thing I place my hope and trust in.

I can’t place God at the center of my life by myself. There will always be something else that distracts me. Something else I desire to place before God. But by intentionally seeking Him, I trust that God can do the rest and transform my heart to love and serve Him. God promises and proves to us that He can be trusted; that He will be by our side always.

Isaiah 41:10 says, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

Making God a priority definitely requires effort and desire on our part, but it also requires trust in God that He will do the real transformation of our hearts. 

Meaghan Couch, Student Leader in Impact Christian Fellowship at IUPUI