Freely humbling Yourself to Serve
Jesus knew who He was and out of that place, He chose to lay down His life and serve. There is an example for us here to follow. Our serving comes out of knowing who we are -knowing our IDENTITY in God. When we are secure in the knowledge that we are valued by Him for WHO WE ARE, then we can serve others because we know, that our value does not change with WHAT WE DO. Jesus humbled Himself out of HIS SECURE IDENTITY in John 13:3-5 New American Standard:
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
This happened right before Jesus was about to go to the cross. He knew He came from God and was going back to God and He knew what He was about to go through. He is all knowing. He knew the physical suffering He was about to endure, yet He still chose to sacrifice Himself, to serve, to love, to humble Himself to bless others. It was out of this knowing He came from God, knowing His identity, that He washed the disciples feet. By the way, feet were really dirty back then.
Further, although the physical suffering that Christ endured on the cross was immense, I don’t think it compares to the separation from the Father that He endured. Think about this-through all eternity, from before creation (it’s hard to wrap our finite minds around this!), God was in unity-God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. It wasn’t like a marriage which involves fallible humans, differences, learning to build unity. This was PERFECT UNITY. They were NEVER separated. They PERFECTLY loved each other. Jesus chose to set that aside. I am not sure we can even fathom this sacrifice. Yet, Jesus knew where He came from and He knew He was going back, so it enabled Him to endure this awful separation, to set aside His desires and obey the Father perfectly.
If we follow Christ’s example, we can also choose to serve out of knowing our identity. In Philippians 2:5-8 NASB, we are told to have Christ’s same attitude:
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus didn’t grasp at His identity. Grasp G725 means “the act of seizing, robbery, plunder.” This comes from a root word that means “to take by force.” Jesus wasn’t forcing God the Father to make Him His equal or seizing His identity. He wasn’t plundering His identity from God, like a pirate with stolen treasure, taking something that was not His. Jesus KNEW who He was. Often, I find myself grasping at my identity in Christ. When you grasp something, you are trying to hold onto it but it seems to slip out of your hands and is not securely held. Jesus didn’t have to grasp at His identity, instead He knew His identity in God BELONGED to Him. Just the same, our IDENTITY IN GOD BELONGS to us. It is rightfully ours. Our identity in God can be SECURELY HELD. So reassuring!
Yes, we can HOLD FIRMLY our identity as His daughters and sons. If we are holding firm our identity, then we know that if we take a place of service, it does not demean our value. Our VALUE is the same no matter what we do. Our VALUE is WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST.
Jesus emptied Himself for us. He not only came in the lowliest form, a helpless baby, but then He became obedient to death. Jesus was God. He didn’t have to obey death. He Himself was not ruled by death. He CHOSE to humble Himself and obey death, in order to set us free from it. If we have the same attitude as Christ, we will also choose to humble ourselves for others without worrying about it devaluing us in others’ eyes. We too will be secure in the identity of who we are in Him, and this will enable us to freely serve.
So, when God asks you to humble yourself and put others first or serve others, you can
BE SECURE IN YOUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST, SO THAT YOU CAN FREELY HUMBLE YOURSELF AND SERVE.
In His Love,
Suzanne
Mom Morsels 