Read: Galatians 5:13-15
Do you want to experience true freedom? Then serve in love! Think more highly of others than you do of yourself. Put the needs of others first.
To some, this might sound like a contradiction. How can we be more free while putting our needs last? Galatians 5:13–15 helps us understand that serving other people isn't merely about doing good works to further the kingdom, or merely being obedient to scripture. It’s about living out of God’s fullness in our hearts.
True love can happen when we are freed from our own selfish needs and desires. There’s no surer way to demonstrate our heart's condition than through our ability to serve others. Imagine if we had nothing to eat for weeks. Our hunger would be so overwhelming that it would consume all of our waking thoughts. If we were to finally lay our eyes on the food that our belly ached for, what are the chances that we would freely share it with an equally famished person?
Paul is thinking along those lines when he warns us to “watch out” that we don’t “bite and devour” one another. When we are spiritually empty, we see people and things as means, or obstacles, to filling our emptiness. Truly “loving your neighbor as yourself” is wanting something for them as much as you want it for yourself. And that can only happen when you know you are filled and sustained by the power of the Spirit of God. When we overflow in our satisfaction, our only desire is to share God’s grace with others.
