EMPOWERED TO SERVE - Gary Wilkerson

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, ESV).

I could do a ten-year series on how to get involved in ministry and it would have zero effect. But remembering the cross and what Jesus endured there causes the heart of the servant to spring up within him. You cannot come to the cross a broken, dirty, worthless sinner and be redeemed, sanctified and loved by our Savior without being changed. When you come to this cross of Jesus, you realize, “I am crucified with Christ.”

When you live in the power of the crucified Christ, you are incapable of not serving Him. You don’t have to be asked to be a servant; in fact, nothing can stop you from signing up for ministries. You will have to carefully schedule your life because serving will just naturally come out of you.

We cannot change by going on a guilt-trip and telling ourselves we just need to try a little harder. No, we can’t do it by ourselves, but the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus gives us power to lay down our lives for Him and for others. We look around and see that many people are in need — people who are searching for a church that is full of love. They may have had a horrible week, but when they walk through the doors of the Lord’s church, they must see and feel that there is something different about that place.

Because we have been “crucified with Christ,” our servant-heart can reach others with His love and help them also to be changed.