#5 Self-Service

The definition of service is to perform work for, to help, aid, and tend. Generally, the term service refers to doing good for others. We volunteer to meet the needs around us. We serve God, church, family, country, and even strangers. Depending on the need, we often serve whether we feel like it or not. Why not include ourselves as well? Looking at our lives, we will see things that need doing. We would be much better off if we “cared for them.”  It’s a matter of keeping our agreements with ourselves just as we would with significant others. Would you keep an agreement with your best friend? Your doctor? Your mother? Your parole officer? Then, keep it to yourself. We don’t exclude service to others but put ourselves prominently on the list. 

God says to each of us. Here is your life, your body, yourself. I have made you a steward of you. It is your job to care for your life. How often have you seen people who give outstanding service to others but put themselves on the back burner? They come to a screeching halt because of burn-out. Been there, done that. Have you?

Lynn Heibels, a pastor’s wife, wrote an article entitled “I Died to Self, and My Self Almost Died.” I thought about that statement for a long time and came to a conclusion. Dying to self does not mean I neglect self-care. Dying to self is more about our need to look good to others and be willing to let that go. It’s not how much we are doing; it’s about being a disciple of Jesus. 

A fundamental truth is that we tend to care for ourselves the way we were cared for growing up! If our needs were neglected, we could be blind to our needs now. If our needs were shamed, we could feel guilty and bad for having needs. We must be in touch with that little child in us and create space for our needs to be met. In Matthew 18, Jesus called a child to him and said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  

If we ask, God will give us the awareness to be good stewards of our bodies, minds, and souls. 

There’s no need to be stingy about self-care—we are, after all, giving self-care out of love for God, who created us and gave us the job to care for ourselves. We are his creation and his temple.

Read the Story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42 and see how it connects to today’s blog. What do you think?