{"id":2308,"date":"2011-12-17T13:54:11","date_gmt":"2011-12-17T18:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/?p=2308"},"modified":"2022-01-08T17:49:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-08T22:49:29","slug":"serve-one-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/2011\/12\/serve-one-another\/","title":{"rendered":"Serve One Another"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--rpuStart--><!--rpuStart--><!--rpuStart--><!--rpuStart--><!--rpuStart--><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\">Serve one another&#8230;<\/h1>\n<h3>and everything else will fall into its proper place.\u00a0 It is the most sustainable model for living ever put forth.\u00a0 Sadly, in this season when we celebrate the birth of the One who came to teach us how to serve one another, the atmosphere is more than a little self serving. The commercialization of this holiday seems to suck the meaning right out of it.\u00a0 It has become a marketing frenzy of epic proportions, a competition to buy more, get more and have more of way too many useless things.\u00a0 If Christmas is a celebration His birthday, then why are we the ones getting the gifts?<\/h3>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/mother_teresa_0820.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2341 alignright\" style=\"margin: 4px 8px;\" title=\"serve one another\" src=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/mother_teresa_0820-300x195.jpg\" alt=\"serve one another\" width=\"282\" height=\"183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/mother_teresa_0820-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/mother_teresa_0820.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 282px) 100vw, 282px\" \/><\/a>If we could just learn to live with a mindset to serve one another, each with whatever gift they have been blessed with, we might find that there is enough abundance for everyone to have it all. What we have managed to really screw up is the distribution of the abundance we do have, and we have done that by failing to serve one another.<\/h3>\n<h3>Just prior to his arrest, Jesus offered to God the Father His prayer for us.\u00a0 Even while anticipating the agony He knew He was about to face, His prayers were for us and not for Himself.\u00a0 He prayed that we would be a unified body, and an unmistakable witness to the love the Creator has for the children of His creation.<\/h3>\n<blockquote>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0\u201cI am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one\u2014as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.\u00a0 I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.&#8221;<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">John 17:20-23 (NLT)<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>We humans have a tendency to make everything a competition.\u00a0 When we compete, there must be winners and losers, and let&#8217;s face it, our society just doesn&#8217;t place much value on losers.\u00a0 We have lost sight of the basic truth that everyone has something of value to offer, and that the true value of their gift is revealed when it is received by one who needs it.\u00a0 That is how we can best serve one another.<\/h3>\n<h3>I was recently blessed with a more vivid understanding of how simple it can be to serve one another while viewing an award winning video produced by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shesalwayswright.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sharon Wright<\/a>.\u00a0 She has graciously allowed me to share it with you here.<\/h3>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/9DXL9vIUbWg?rel=0\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>When we truly serve one another, we recognize the deepest needs in others, and meet them with the resources we have at hand.<\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Even those with the least of worldly possessions can have a dramatic and positive impact on the life of someone else.\u00a0 When we walk this earth with a single purpose at our core, to serve on another, our words and actions can reach far beyond our small circle of influence, allowing the love of God to be seen, felt, and heard.\u00a0 That, indeed, is what Jesus prayed for.<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/children.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-2339\" title=\"serve one another\" src=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/children-300x236.jpg\" alt=\"serve one another\" width=\"204\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/children-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/children-1024x808.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 204px) 100vw, 204px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2342 alignnone\" style=\"margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 4px;\" title=\"serve one another\" src=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/soup-kitchen-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"serve one another\" width=\"155\" height=\"155\" srcset=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/soup-kitchen-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/soup-kitchen-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/soup-kitchen-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/soup-kitchen.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 155px) 100vw, 155px\" \/> \u00a0 \u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2340 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/habitat-for-humanity-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"serve one another\" width=\"239\" height=\"159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/habitat-for-humanity-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/habitat-for-humanity.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 239px) 100vw, 239px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0 <sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;<\/span><\/sup>As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.&#8221; \u00a0 <strong>1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">When we serve one another, we are becoming the change we desire.\u00a0 When we serve one another with joy, we shine the light of Jesus all around us.<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">So what change do you think we could achieve in this world if we celebrated the birth of Jesus by bringing Him a gift?\u00a0 The gift that would delight Him most would be for us to make it part of our daily lives to serve one another in small but meaningful ways, to serve on another with joy, to serve one another with grace, to serve one another with our time, our talent, and our treasure.<\/h3>\n<p><!--rpuEnd--><!--rpuEnd--><!--rpuEnd--><!--rpuEnd--><!--rpuEnd--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even those with the least of worldly possessions can have a dramatic and positive impact on the life of someone else.  When we walk this earth with a single purpose at our core, to serve on another, our words and actions can reach far beyond our small circle of influence, allowing the love of God to be seen, felt, and heard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,69,20,3],"tags":[108,72,68,40,107,54],"class_list":["post-2308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digging-deeper-for-wisdom","category-holidays","category-personal","category-discussions","tag-abundance","tag-change","tag-christmas","tag-community","tag-serve-one-another","tag-sustainable-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2308"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4524,"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308\/revisions\/4524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onemonthofwisdom.com\/wisdomblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}