The Gift of Service

Dr. Charles Stanley: The personal gift of service who exercises that gift, they are practicing one of the most basic, important principles of success in life. Give yourself away to help other people succeed. Give yourself away to help other people accomplish their goal. And what will God do? He will turn it right back to you, and He will bless you and reward you and enable you because you're giving yourself away.
Guest (Male): Everyone likes to receive good service. Of course, we can see the value of that in the business world, but we also need good help in the church. Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, we'll see how God has already taken care of that by giving some believers the gift of service. Find out if that's your gift as our series continues.
Dr. Charles Stanley: When you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you receive a very special unique gift. This gift was for the purpose of enabling you to become the person God wants you to be, do the things that God wants you to do. It was a gift that was fitted and suited for you and God's purpose for your life. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives those gifts, and at salvation, I believe that's when that gift is bestowed upon us. That gift is not given for the purpose of making us happy. It is given for the purpose of making it possible for us to be productive and fruitful for the kingdom of God. And for example, in 1 Peter chapter 4, listen to what he says in this fourth chapter, a very significant passage of scripture. He says in verse 10, "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God," the many various ways in which God blesses us. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Now, God has equipped you with a gift that suits and fits His purpose for your life. There's no such thing as a giftless child of God. And so as you listen, I want to encourage you to examine your own heart. Ask yourself the question, do these things sound like me, the way I feel in my relationships? Because when you discover what your spiritual gift is, or whether you do not discover it, the knowledge of it or absence of it affects all of your relationships—people you work with, your children, your husband, your wife, your friends—because we all have one of those gifts. That determines how we respond, react, relate, accomplish, achieve, or fail to do so in our life. So today, the gift is the gift of service. Now, many people say, "Well, I don't like this gift of service. I want somebody serving me." Wait until you listen to this. Or somebody says, "Well, I can tell you right now what I want. I want the gift of giving." Wait until you hear that one. And so you can't say I want this or that. First of all, it doesn't do any good. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the Spirit of God gives the gifts to whomsoever He wills. So the Spirit of God, who came into your life the moment you were saved, who enabled you to become saved, and who equips you, is the one who's made that determination because God knows exactly what He wants to accomplish in your life. So listen carefully to each of these characteristics. Then we'll talk about how you act when you are living in the Spirit with this particular gift and how you act when you get in the flesh. Are you ready to say amen? All right. Here we go. And the first characteristic when you think about this particular gift of service, one of the first characteristics that I want us to notice is this: a person who has the gift of service is a person who sees practical needs and usually, they see them first. In a group of people who have different gifts, the person with the gift of service somehow has this amazing ability to see that particular need first. And oftentimes, as a result of that, they're the first one to step forward. They're the kind of person who cannot sit back. They can't sit back and let needs go on when they see them. Secondly, a person who has the gift of service loves freeing other people to achieve. Because you see, a person with the gift of service is delighted in seeing you succeed. They're delighted in helping. They're delighted in becoming a part of your life. They are delighted in being able to feel useful for someone else. And when they see a person who has a very important task, if they can help you accomplish your task, they are greatly delighted in that. The person who has the gift of service and who practices that is following one of the basic principles of success: give yourself away and help other people succeed, and you in turn will have great success. God will honor you in whatever He's called you to do in life, no matter what it is, whether it's becoming a great mother, a great wife, a great husband, whatever it might be, God is going to be at work in your life. To cause a person not to be able to do that is to stifle their spirit. That's the thing that God's placed in them, this desire to be of service to other people. Thirdly, there is a disregard for any weariness on their part. The person with the gift of service work and work and work, but they don't quit. They get a little tired, but they don't just fold their hands and lie down. They just keep on going, even after they're weary, even after they're tired. When everybody else decides to sit down and take a break, the gift of service is going to keep on working. They take great delight in accomplishing and achieving and fulfilling a need in someone else's life, whatever that may be. Now, sometimes we do get physically tired. Not tired of doing what God's called us to do, but we become weary in the process of doing it. And the gift of service is the last one to sit down, the last one to lie down. A fourth characteristic: they have difficulty in saying no. You may say, "Why do I feel that way?" Because that's the way God spiritually wired you. That is your unique gift. You just can't stand to see needs go unmet. And so as a result of that, when somebody says it can't be done, you don't argue with them. You just show them it can be because that's the way God made you. He gave you a unique gift in order to serve one another. And think about how self-centered so many people are. They just want to live for themselves. "Me, myself, and I" are my three favorite friends. The truth is He has gifted you in order to give your life away to other people and to serve them. So difficulty saying no. Then, of course, alert to likes and dislikes. It's amazing how the person with the gift of service has this amazing way to remember. They remember, for example, the food you like. They remember the restaurant you like to go to and don't like to go to. They remember what your hobby is. They remember maybe your favorite color. They remember the experiences you like. In other words, they can remember lots of things. It's not because they make up their mind to do so; it's just a natural bent in them. When they remember these things, that gives them the opportunity to serve. So when your birthday comes around, they don't forget it. When they have an opportunity to serve you in some fashion because of something they remember, they take great delight in doing that. And so they use these on special occasions. Another one is a strong desire to be with other people. The person who has the gift of service is not a loner. Now here's the reason: it's not that they don't have time of private meditation with God. It's just the fact they're not loners. They like to be with people. Why is it they like to be with people? Because being with people allows them and affords them the opportunities of serving these people. If a person who is a loner backs off out of life, they just deny people the opportunity to be a friend, the opportunity to serve them in some fashion. A person with the gift of service likes being with people because they're alert to ways to help, to fulfill those practical needs. They're delighted in that. Mr. or Mrs. Service is right in there; they're very hospitable in every way because that's where they get their greatest sense of fulfillment. Giving themselves away to meet the needs of other people is a very, very godly attitude. Then of course, they need approval and recognition. A person with the gift of service needs recognition and approval. You say, "Well, now if you've got the gift of service you shouldn't need it." The reason is the appreciation and gratitude and thanksgiving and recognition that we show the person with the gift of service reconfirms that what they're doing for you is important. It doesn't inflate their ego. The fact that you thank them and show appreciation says to the person with the gift of service, "I'm so grateful that you said that because that lets me know that what I'm doing is very, very important in your life." Now, I can think of some people that I'm surrounded with with the gift of service, and I can name two or three who are just perfect examples of what I'm thinking about. Especially one who's always thinking ahead for me. No matter what's going on, I'm thinking, "How did you know to be thinking about that?" Because they know me well enough and have watched me enough, been with me enough that they're always thinking ahead, looking for ways to alleviate me from little things and circumstances and projects that free my time. For example, you tell a person who has a gift of service that something can't be done. I remember when I was building my house, for example, that the man was varnishing the mantel. And there was a big spot right smack-dab in the middle of it, big as my thumb. I said, "What about that?" He said, "Well, somebody dropped something on this," and he gave me all these reasons it can't be fixed. My friend who has the gift of service walked in, saw that, and I said, "You know, the painter said that can't be done." He said, "Well, just let me take care of that." I walked in the next day, can't see a thing. Absolutely perfect, gone. One person has a reason why it can't be done. Mr. or Mrs. Service gives you a reason why it can be done, and if at all possible, they will get it done. Now, I'm simply saying whenever you and I get too important and we get so important we can't live on the level and sit on the level and stand on the level and walk on the level that everybody else does, we have a problem. And our problem is pride, and God will not honor pride under any condition. Tell me what you and I are so important we can't get in the dirt and we can't do whatever's necessary to help someone else. The gift of service doesn't even have that problem. They can't wait to find some reason to help someone in some fashion or the other. And so while they need approval and appreciation, God is working something awesome in their life. Then of course, they like short-range projects. If you want to frustrate the gift of service, say, "Well, now, I have this project and it's going to take us a year to get this done." Mr. or Mrs. Gift of Service says, "Oh my goodness, a year or five years?" You give them a 10-year project, forget it. But you give them a short-range project, and let them go. Be sure to give them clear instructions, but let them do the job. And here's the reason: it isn't because they think the project's not important. What's important to that person—the way they're wired spiritually—is they want to see progress. They want to see progress now, tomorrow. They want to see progress being made. The truth is all of us do, but for service, they have to see progress. Does that mean they can't participate in a long-term thing? No, it means this: the way they look at a long-term project, they chop it up in small pieces. "I'll get this done. I'll get that done." It may be a year, it may be two years, but while they get that glimpse, they have to come back to think, "All right, short-term, if I can get this done in two or three weeks." They have to see progress. In the process of doing so, they're the kind of people who accomplish great long-range tasks, but they have to break it down in small sections so they can see the progress being made. Then of course, there's this whole issue of meeting needs quickly. In other words, you give a person who has the gift of service a task, and they're not going to say, "Well, in a couple of weeks, I ought to get to that." If it's a practical need, they go to work and they want to get it done as quickly as possible. I have seen this over and over and over again with the people I know who have the gift of service. You don't have to wait on them. They don't sit around and tell you the reasons it can't be done. And they don't give you some excuse for going to get it done one of these days. That's the kind of person who steps up to the plate and says, "Okay, I see this need, I understand what I'm supposed to do." They want to do it quickly. The worst thing you can do with a gift of service is put them on some committee, especially some committee where everybody has to express their personal opinion and desires and dislikes, and where somebody wants to be impressed that they ought to have the final answer. You put them on that kind of committee with red tape and you destroy them. They can't handle that. If this is the job and this is the direction, let's get it done. Let's don't even consider why we can't do it. Let's consider not only can we do it, but how quickly can we get it done. Now here's what I want you to remember: because you have the gift of service does not mean that there are some areas you can't serve in. You can have the gift of service and be the president. You can have the gift of service and be a mother in the home. You can have the gift of service and be an attorney or work in an office as a secretary. It doesn't make any difference. God uses your gift wherever He places you. Therefore, you operate best in whatever vocation you're in. You operate best when you operate out of your gift. And if your gift is service, you're going to motivate other people. You're going to encourage them when they see your activity and what you're willing to do and your capacity and you get in and make it happen. They may be more intelligent than you are in their mind, they may have more gifts and more education, but I'd rather have an uneducated person who is in love with Jesus Christ who has the gift of service and knows no "noes", no "buts", no excuses. Put them to work and see who gets the most done. Because that person when they're walking in the Spirit, they understand the source of their strength. The source of their strength is God. Whatever God called you to do, He's going to enable you to do. However much strength it requires, God's going to give it. And so when a person says, "Well, I just don't think I can do. I'm too tired." Listen to what He says in this passage: it is the strength of God. The person who has a gift of service is going to be working out of the strength of God because when they don't and they get in the flesh, they don't have any more energy than anybody else does. You mark this down: when you are out of the Spirit, there is an energy drain in your life. I guarantee it. It takes more energy to do whatever you're doing. When you're living with known sin in your life, it's an energy drain because your mind is divided. Your mind is divided when you're living in sin. When you're living in known disobedience to God and you know it, there's an energy drain because you do not have the divine energy of the living God. All you have is physical human strength, and I'll tell you, it's going to give out. Proof is, you know what happens to people when it gives out? They go to the drug, alcohol, or something to perk them up so they can do it. The person with the gift of service knows it is only in the power and the strength of the living God that we can do what we're called to do. And once you get into sin and you depend on anything else but the power of God, sooner or later you become an addict, sooner or later you fall, sooner or later you fail, sooner or later you get so discouraged, and you end up stepping out of the will of God and you waste and ruin your life. You don't want to live that kind of life. You want to be fruitful for the kingdom of God. Nobody may ever know your name; He does. No one may ever see your faithfulness; He sees it. No one may ever know your works; He's counted every single one of them. And one of these days what really matters will matter and will work. The Lord Jesus Christ will reward you. He will reward you not with the world's applause, but with the recognition and the rewards of the Son of God.
Guest (Male): It's only through the strength of the Holy Spirit that believers can do what God wants us to do. Today's edition of In Touch challenged you to discover your unique ability and put it to use through God's power and for His glory. If you're a believer and you'd like to understand more about how you can serve the body of Christ, stop by intouch.org and listen to this message again when you click on Today on Radio. Connect to our online store to order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, "The Gift of Service," or order his teaching set, "Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit." For all this and more, head to intouch.org. You can also call or text 1-800-IN-TOUCH. If you prefer to write, our address is In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357. Sometimes we judge the value of a gift by its size or expense, but the heart behind the gift is what matters more. Today's "Moment with Charles Stanley" is coming up. In Touch Plus is streaming on Local Now, featuring all the best of Dr. Charles Stanley.
Dr. Charles Stanley: It's great to have strong convictions based on the Word of God. He's working out things that you and I would never know about in our future.
Guest (Male): In Touch Plus, your streaming network for quality Christian programming 24/7. Now watch this. In Touch Plus, streaming free on Local Now. There is an inexplicable joy that comes from understanding scripture and learning how to apply it in our own life. The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible includes 30 foundational truths that Dr. Stanley has learned from over 60 years of ministry. It's available in the New King James Version, New International Version, the King James Version, and New American Standard Bible version. To order, call 1-800-IN-TOUCH or go to intouch.org/store.
Dr. Charles Stanley: I want to give you an illustration of something that happened to me today. This young lad was standing there waiting for me, and as soon as I walked in the door, he handed me this. Now, it is a biscuit and a little jar of pure maple syrup. And so I thanked him for it, and then I began to think about it. What's significant about this is that a 12-year-old boy while eating his breakfast could think about his pastor whom he'd never met before, and decide something inside of him wanted to do something for me, that I might need something else to eat before I started preaching this morning. And so what was a simple act of service on his part, which was a cold biscuit and a jar of syrup, was God's way of using him in a way that he will never be able to imagine the impact of it. And if you're sitting here with an open heart, it should have an impact on you. Most of the time when we're eating, who are we thinking about? Self. And oftentimes God may send you a message to do something for someone else, and you sit there and give reasons why you'd be embarrassed, why it's not significant, why that's not a need. You can come up with 10 reasons not to give me a cold biscuit and a jar of syrup. But you know what? This little boy did not listen to the reasons why he shouldn't. He listened to the reason why he should. God spoke to his heart and he was willing to be obedient to God.
Guest (Male): Learn more about responding to God with faithful obedience at intouch.org. And please share how this program has encouraged you to know Jesus better and live for Him. Coming soon on In Touch: all believers need to be in a constant state of growth and spiritual development. That means we need good teachers. Learn more about this vital gift of the Holy Spirit when we return on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.