How's Your Service?

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Wednesday, April 15, 2015

"I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "
— Acts 20:35

Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014. | (Photo: rever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)

Some believers have known the Lord for years, yet they think it is all about everyone catering to them. But my question is this: When are they going to grow up and start serving other people?

Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive (see Acts 20:35). In fact, a sign of spiritual growth is that you want to serve—not be served.

I will let you in on a little secret: I have found that as I give, God blesses and replenishes me. As I give, He gives to me. Luke 6:38 says, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. . . . For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

If we go through life thinking, I need this or I want that, we will never quite have enough. That is why we need to learn the joy of giving and the joy of serving. The church isn't a place where we simply have our needs met; it's a place where we help to meet the needs of others.

The church is also a place where we discover our spiritual gifts. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4, "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says: 'When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men' " (verses 7–8). God wants to give you (or has given you) spiritual gifts—gifts to use for His glory.

I think we need to start saying, "How can I help? What can I do? I want to be serving the Lord in some way, shape, or form." That is a mark of spiritual maturity.