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In some ways we would prefer to hear Jesus’ call to deny father and mother, houses and land for the sake of the gospel than to hear his word to wash feet. Radical self-denial gives the feel of adventure…. But in service we must experience the many little deaths of going beyond ourselves. Service banishes us to the mundane, the ordinary, the trivial.
–Richard Foster

Are you willing to endure the many little deaths of service for the cause of Christ? Today, if you will answer the call to service, you will have to endure the death of your words in order to use his words, the death of your attitude in order to have his attitude, and the death of your thoughts in order to think of the things of God after him.

And so when someone lashes out at you with a verbal jab, you will have to guard your tongue. Death to self.
And when someone does something else that makes you angry, you will have to guard your attitude. Death to self.
And when your mind wants to take you down a road of thought of negativity or impurity, you will have to guard your mind. Death to self.

It is many little deaths all day long.
God, help us to choose these little self-deaths over our own desires and to endure them well in order to build others up for the sake of better establishing your Kingdom here on earth.

If you wish to learn and appreciate something worthwhile, then love to be unknown and considered as nothing…. To think of oneself as nothing and always to think well and highly of others is the best and most perfect wisdom. Wherefore, if you see another sin openly or commit a serious crime, do not consider yourself better, for you do not know how long you can remain in good estate. All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself.
–Thomas à Kempis

This goes against the teachings of our society, but may each of us who are Christ-followers love to be unknown, think of ourselves as nothing, and always think highly of others.

It is good to remember that “there but for the grace of God go I” when we see others who have stumbled and fallen. Instead of condemning others for their frailness, may we remember that we are most frail and it is God’s grace that has kept us on the right path thus far. Therefore, let us consider how we can help others out of the ditch instead of pointing at them to shame them for being in the ditch.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” said Jesus. One commentary translates that “Blessed are the desperate.” With nowhere else to turn, the desperate just may turn to Jesus, the only one who can offer the deliverance they long for. Jesus really believed that a person who is poor in spirit, or mourning, or persecuted, or hungry and thirsty for righteousness has a peculiar “advantage” over the rest of us. Maybe, just maybe, the desperate person will cry out to God for help. If so, that person is truly blessed.
–Philip Yancey

Whatever it costs to have someone turn to Jesus… the price is worth it. If that means that being poor in spirit or desperate is the cost, then that is a small price to pay. We might look at such a life and think – “It’s not fair that they have so little, that they are struggling so, that they are in such a difficult situation.” But if that is what leads them to cry out to God for help and in their time of trouble they gain Jesus, then they are truly blessed.

May we who know the blessing of Christ take the message to those who are desperate and tell them that there is one who can offer the deliverance they long for… and His name is Jesus.

I pray that you will ask God for opportunities to share Him and His love with others today as you go to work, school, the store, or wherever else your day takes you.

Martin Luther discussed who we are in Christ, and what that means regarding how we are to relate to one another:

Nor are we only kings and the freest of all men, but also priests for ever, a dignity far higher than kingship, because by that priesthood we are worthy to appear before God, to pray for others, and to teach one another mutually the things which are of God. For these are the duties of priests, and they cannot possibly be permitted to any unbeliever. Christ has obtained for us this favour, if we believe in Him, that, just as we are His brethren, and co-heirs and fellow kings with Him, so we should be also fellow priests with Him, and venture with confidence, through the spirit of faith, to come into the presence of God, and cry “Abba, Father!” and to pray for one another.
–Martin Luther

In Christ, we have been adopted into the family of God – making us royalty. Through Christ, we have experienced grace, making us free in Him. But in being brought into this royal and free family, we have also been given a role – that of priests. As such, it is our role and duty to minister to those around us – helping them connect with God in stronger ways because of their relationship with us. Are the people who work with you able to say that about you… that their relationship with God is better because they have a relationship with you? How about your family or other friends?

In Christ, you are a priest forever. Be faithful to your calling and seek to be an expert in this, your task. Diligently pray for those around you, and teach them how to live for God.