To Serve With Love

To Serve With Love

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13 (New International Version)

The title of this devotional is a play on words taken from a 1967 movie starring Sydney Poitier, titled “To Sir, With Love.” After searching unsuccessfully for work as an engineer, Mark Thackeray (played by Poitier) accepts a teaching position at a rough, East End London high school. His colleagues warn him about the challenging students he will encounter there, but still he enters his classroom unprepared for their horrible defiance. Being so-called products of their environment, these teenagers are determined to brutalize everyone around them. Thackeray, through patience and love, tames them and teaches them self-respect.
In Galatians, having shown that justification comes by faith alone and not by strict adherence to the law, the Apostle Paul now addresses this question, “If we don’t keep the law, then what will guide our conduct?” His answer lies in living by the power of the Holy Spirit. “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves” (Galatians 5:16 NLT). Paul argues that our freedom in Christ is not a license to sin, because love guides all Christian behavior. Our love for God and others is to be the impetus for all actions.

The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart once and told me that love, in its most mature state, is self-sacrificial. First John 3:16 confirms, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:4 that “love suffers long” (NKJV). However, that truth challenges today’s “throw-away” view. When people become difficult to get along with, when they don’t measure up to our standards, when they disappoint us, society encourages us to get rid of them, whether they are friends, family, or acquaintances. But true godly love “puts up” when it’s easier to “give up.”

In that 1967 movie, Thackeray put up with those rebellious, disrespectful, calloused teens, and showed compassion when others abandoned them. The reward wasn’t immediate. We may never see the fruit of our acts of love and kindness while on this earth. But Hebrews 12:2 (emphasis added) says, “For the joy set before him [Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame.” We partake in that same joy when we fulfill His call of service in love (Matthew 25:21).