Leadership. We all know what leadership is and what it entails. It is a topic that is heavily discussed and talked about among many. So, I want to put a spin on leadership by taking a deep dive into serving.

Lianna and I place serving as one of our top priorities in our lives and has a near and dear place in our hearts. We wholeheartedly believe in a lifestyle where leadership is equal to serving, and we try our best to intentionally live it out every day. We feel like leadership and serving go hand-in-hand. Like two peas in a pod. You honestly can not have one without the other because it is a package deal when they are on equal terms. If you want to be a great leader, serving must be on your priority list. Giving back is so important in so many ways.  Thinking and writing about serving always gets us fired up on the inside because it is such a powerful topic.

First Thoughts on Serving

So what is the first thing that comes to mind when you read or hear the word serve? Does inconvenience, time consuming, uncomfortable, or burdensome come to mind? For others, maybe the very first thing that comes to mind is selflessness, behind the scenes, rewarding, giving of yourself, and impacting others. We feel like your first impression or thought regarding serving really shows where your heart lies and what comes out.

Some of the most common negative thoughts on serving is that it is inconvenient and that it does not fit into our busy schedules. Let us get real for just a moment. I honestly admit that sometimes serving can be inconvenient and my schedule gets so tight to squeeze serving in. There you go, I just told you what my biggest challenge is and where my struggle lies with in serving. There has been times that a negative thought had crossed my mind when serving opportunities open up. I start to think about how difficult it is going to be, or all the other things I can do during that time instead of serving.

Occasionally, when those awful human selfish thoughts cross my mind I have to go to the Lord in prayer. Asking Him to humble myself and open my heart toward serving. When I give it up to him, those awful and selfish thoughts fade away, enabling my mind and body to serve others unconditionally.

When the negative thoughts are released, you begin to see the true needs of others. Therefore, through humbling ourselves, we open up our minds of serving those that need it the most.   

Serve With The Right Intentions

Some people serve with the wrong intentions or a wrong heart. For example, someone might want to serve at church or at an event. They are willing to serve because they want to be seen or rewarded in some way, such as being in front of the camera or to impress important people.

If someone serves with the wrong idea or intention and want to lead people someday, they will not be ready to lead until they first learn to serve others wholeheartedly.

Here is what Jesus had to say on this subject of serving, giving of our time and money:

“Examine your motives to make sure you’re not showing off when you do your good deeds, only to be admired by others; otherwise, you will lose the reward of your heavenly Father.” -Matthew 6:1-4 TPT

Noticed Or Unnoticed

When we serve, it has a dramatic impact on others’ lives whether they experience first hand or not. There are many times where someone serves, impacting lives, and is not given credit or goes unnoticed. There are many other times where serving is noticed by many and just as many lives are impacted.

Serving impacts lives, whether it goes noticed or unnoticed.

It doesn’t matter if your serving goes noticed or unnoticed. What matters is if you serve wholeheartedly, with pure intentions, and helping to bring joy in any way you can. I love the feeling when I have been serving someone or hundreds of people and they begin to smile. That feeling of watching someone come to life with a smile is truly amazing and, not to mention, is contagious. Others begin to smile because they saw a smile and it becomes a ripple effect.

There have been other times when I was serving behind the scenes. No one noticed or said anything to me, and it is still was a truly amazing feeling. The reason being is knowing that you are giving your time, energy and attention, intentionally helping another person, unrewarded and unnoticed. I can write story after story about people in the past served me and how it has dramatically changed and impacted my life.

Serving truly alters your mind-set, attitude and lifestyle. The ripple effect is huge with serving, and all it takes is one individual to step out and make a difference and thousands could potentially feel the effect. More people are inspired to step out and serve when they see others around them serving and seeing the impact it makes.

Blessings come from serving for the right intentions. In the book of Luke 6:38, a large crowd had gathered from all over to hear Jesus speak. He spoke to the crowd,

“Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Jesus made a clear and precise point that the measure you use to serve, it will be measured as equal to you.

Serving Will Change You

I think it all boils down to where your heart is. Is your heart in a humble or selfish place while serving?  Do we have a bad attitude or think about what other things we could be doing instead? Ending those thoughts and actions is exactly what we will need to do.

Serving is very simple and does not have to or need to be complicated. It is a simple, humble act that will bring abundant blessings into your life and the lives of others. 

Serving can also lead to developing a new perspective and outlook toward life that it is not all about you. It may not seem like a blessing at first, but we will begin to feel, think or talk differently.

We may become unrecognizable to others in a good way. We may lose certain friends or followers, because we’re acting different. But, it is okay. Serving comes with good changes in your life. We will begin to develop new relationships and make new better friends who are like-minded and have the attributes of a true servant of Jesus Christ. Serving is a beautiful gift that we can give freely by giving your time, talent and energy.

Someone shared with me their thoughts on serving and leading. They told me that they learned more about leadership qualities while serving others than just leading alone. This is why I feel that leadership strongly go hand-in-hand with serving. You end up becoming a better leader in the end.

Thank you for reading,

David Bond

Co-founder of The Simple Mission