Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others" (1 Peter 4:10 NIV). I believe that this is true because by serving others we serve God. This verse continues to say that it is by using our God-given gift that we exercise guardianship over it. Also, if we don’t use the gifts that we are given, they could be taken away from us. Another reason why we should serve others is that Jesus served others and He set an example for us, which we should follow. Firstly, I will talk about why serving others, serves God, and why we should serve God.

In 1 Samuel 12:20 it says, “Serve the Lord with all your heart (NIV).” So we should serve God cheerfully, not simply out of duty. What about other people? Well, when we serve others, we are serving God, and we should serve them in the same way.

Gods and sodas

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Ch...

Jesus is waiting for you.

It says in Matthew 25:39, “When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me (NLT)!” It says right there that if we serve His brothers and sisters, we are serving God. That includes the homeless, prisoners and also the people in hospital or anyone else who is sick. Are these the only people we should help? The parable of the Good Samaritan tells us that the answer is “No!” We also need to help our neighbour. Our neighbour is not limited to the person or family who lives next door. We are a neighbour to anyone we help. The implication of the parable is that we should be prepared to help anyone in need. In the parable it was an enemy of the victim who stopped and helped. If someone of a different race could help someone else of another ethnic background back then, how much more should we help our fellow citizens of the world in our global village today? By serving everyone we are serving God, their Creator. In the next paragraph I’ll talk about using our gifts and if we don’t, we’ll lose them.

We should use our gifts because if we don’t, we will lose them. In Matthew 25:14-28 we read the Parable of the Talents. It’s about a man who gives money to three of his servants, according to their abilities. Two of them doubled their money, but the other one buried his. The master was happy with the first two, but was disappointed with the third. The money given to the servant, who buried it, was given to the one who had made the most money. This is saying that if we wisely use the talents we have then we’ll be given more, but if we don’t use our talents then they will be taken away. There is a verse which sums it all up, Matthew 25:29 and it says this: “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away” (NLT). In the next paragraph I’ll be talking about following Jesus’ example of serving.

Jesus served others while He was on earth. It says in Luke 22:27(NIV), “I am among you as one who serves.” In John 13:4 – 17 we have just one example of Jesus serving His disciples – He washed their feet. This is an act of humility as this was usually performed by servants. Jesus is often called the Master, but here we are see him being a servant. In verse 14 He says that we should do the same. Verse 15 says, “For I have given you an example, which you should do as I have done to you.” We should follow Christ’s example because in Philippians 2:5 (NIV) it says that our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. So we should have a serving heart and do what we can to help others, like Jesus did. In the last paragraph I’ll sum everything up.

In conclusion, we should use our gifts that are useful for serving or if we don’t, these gifts will be taken away from us. Another reason why we should serve others is because when we serve others, we serve God. Serving Him is imperative because that is one of the reasons why we were created. God sent His Son to be an example to us and so we should follow this example and serve others like He did. I believe what is said in the Bible; therefore I believe that we should serve others “Others” means everyone, not just the people we like or who are like us. We should also serve cheerfully and willingly. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.”

Church of Saint-Eutrope in Clermont-Ferrand, stain...

Parable of the Talents

The parable of the talents, as depicted in a 1712 ...