1 Peter 4:7-11

When I was a kid, my mama taught me to say, “please” and “thank
you.” Now, I particularly enjoy expressing appreciation at my favorite
fast-food joint. I’ll say, “thank you,” just to hear “my pleasure” in
response. On a good day, we work in three or four “thank you’s” and
“my pleasures” by the time I’m sipping my Arnold Palmer (unsweet
tea, lemonade).

It seems that Christians don’t serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received (v. 10) with as much enthusiasm and consistency as I’m used to in the drive-thru line. Do those workers really take pleasure in forking over my food? Who knows. But they’re excel- lent stewards of their restaurant’s hospitality and tasty sandwiches.

Sometimes, I wonder if people would line up around the block to enter our church parking lots if we took the same pleasure in serving them as those smiling young people seem to take in serving meals to busy drivers. Surely the manifold grace of God is at least as good as fried chicken. So, does a restaurant franchise serve more customers than
a church serves its neighbors? Maybe they just love their paychecks, their bosses and teammates, or working for a successful company, but love must have something to do with their attitude, as well as with how customers feel when they talk to them.

We’re told “love covers a multitude of sins.” Much like a sincere “my pleasure” or two makes a less-than-hot sandwich taste better and a tart Arnold Palmer taste sweeter, love propels Jesus-followers to give ourselves to serve others. The sins that love could cover happen when we’re distracted, selfish, and forget Whom we represent. Love stimulates the sincerity of spirit that provides pleasure when we serve others.

Consider

What aspect of serving others gives you the greatest pleasure?

Pray

God, help us maintain constant love for others, as well as to remember that how we treat them shapes how they see you. Amen.



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