Lord, Give Me a Heart of Service

​Do you have a heart of service?  I think that at times, we are all guilty of passiveness or even avoidance of helping those around us.  We may have one excuse or another: we’re busy, we don’t have time, etc.  Maybe we tell ourselves that someone else will do the job or that someone else may be better suited to get the work done.  Maybe we sometimes don’t even consider participating in a service opportunity because the thought simply doesn’t cross our minds.

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​However, we’re told in Scripture that God wants us to have a very different approach to serving our neighbors.  “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”  (1 Peter 4:10). God wants us to go out of our way to serve those around us even when we may not want to or when it isn’t the most convenient for us.  The Bible makes it clear that serving our neighbor should be a priority.  As Christians, we know that God’s expectations for us are perfect.  Imagine what this world would look like if everyone put aside their selfish desires and instead focused on leading lives of service.  What a harmonious and peaceful world that would be!

​The life of Christ is the ultimate example of a life of service.  The entire purpose of Jesus’ time here on earth was to serve humankind.  He took on human flesh and lived a perfect life through the struggles of this world all so that He could gift us with His perfect image.  He knowingly and willingly suffered, died, and defeated hell all so that we might gain entrance to eternity in heaven.  And in His glory, our Savior ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us there.  Consider how blessed we are by Jesus’ dedication to serving His people!

​You, too, have the power to bless those around you with the unique gifts you have been given by the Holy Spirit and there certainly are people who could benefit from those gifts.  New Beginnings has openings for a wide range of volunteer opportunities, from filling staff hours to working one-on-one with our moms to acting as a liaison for our ministry at your church.  Do you have the time and the talents to do any of these jobs?  If not, there are tons of opportunities out there within our local churches and our community as a whole.  Be proactive!  We all have a responsibility to serve our neighbor in any way that we can.  May God grant us all the hearts of service necessary to fulfill this responsibility.

Here we have a list of volunteer opportunities we have at New Beginnings:

​“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  (Galations 5:13-14).
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“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”  (Galations 6:10).

Taleya Williamson is the Operations Manager at New Beginnings.  She was born and raised in Puyallup, Washington and attended Evergreen Lutheran High School.  Taleya recently graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran College with a Bachelors of Science in psychology with a minor in anthropology.  In her free time, Taleya enjoys spending time with her husband, David.

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