Refocus

As I conclude this brief series of posts containing notes about spiritual disciplines, one idea jumps out at me in this whole process of "training wisely" as a Christian. It's easy, especially for me, to get caught up focusing on the self when working through spiritual disciplines. The questions one asks themselves is in what areas am I weak, where can I get better, and what can I do to be a stronger and more effective disciple. These are worthy, but dangerous questions.

Assuming there are 20 spiritual disciplines one can work through (and I am completely making that number up), I think the "practice of servanthood" (today's topic) can be more important than all the others. In fact, you could probably focus on this one and ignore the other 19 and be better off than if you worked on the 19 others and not this one. Focus solely on the needs of others for a time, and it's amazing how close to God you can feel. In my mind, the more I can forget myself and my supposed "needs," the happier I become.

Some notes on the practice of servanthood:

• To work on this, you've got to work on your own pride. At the deepest level, pride is the choice to exclude both God and other people from their rightful place in our hearts. It is essentially comparative in nature, and it destroys our capacity to love. You've got to kill pride and replace it with humility.
• Speaking of humility: You will know you have begun to make progress in humility when you find that you cease to be preoccupied with yourself. Also, humility is the decision to let God be God.
• Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh (all the crap we want to do and shouldn't) like service. . . The flesh whines against service and screams against hidden service.
• When Jesus came in the form of a servant, he was not disguising who God is, He was revealing it.
• The reason we help others is not because we are strong and they need us; it is because if we don't help them, we will end up a hopeless relic.
• Serve everyone, even the difficult people. The gap between God and the most spiritual among us is far greater than the gap between the most spiritual and the least.
• If you're too busy to serve those around you, you're probably too busy. And too focused on self.

**(all notes come from Ortberg's The Life You've Always Wanted)