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Faith & Service

Faith in Focus: Seeking to Serve

By Leah Summers, February 26, 2019

(Pictured above: During Winter Break, a team of nine Liberty University students and three staff members traveled to Butte County, Calif., to help Samaritan’s Purse in its outreach to victims of the Camp Fire in northern California. The team sifted through the rubble of 18 homes to help families search for specific items. This was the second team to be deployed by LU Send Now, the university’s disaster relief initiative, following wildfires on the West Coast. In August, the first team was specifically assigned to care for the spiritual and mental needs of families affected by the Carr fire.)


Servanthood. It is a characteristic that people are quick to applaud, yet oftentimes quite hesitant to be consistent with. In our culture today, it can be easy to show acts of service and expect approval from others as we make our acts known. Serving others can also easily become a selfish action when we choose to only do it when it is convenient for us, working it around our own schedule.

But have we taken the time to sit and ponder what servanthood really looks like, a lifestyle that truly imitates the servanthood of our Savior? Jesus says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Jesus not only came to serve, but to lay His life down in service while loving and saving us all. As believers in Christ, we should always be seeking to serve others in intentional and unique ways.

The Vines Center was a “Full House” when actress and author Candace Cameron Bure joined us for Convocation on Jan. 16. It was exciting to hear about the ways she not only maneuvered through the TV and moviemaking industries, but also how she was seeking to serve the people she worked with in a Christ-honoring way. Bure reminded us of the importance of serving people from all walks of life and whether or not they look, think, or act like us, we must always be willing to love them well. As believers, we can easily stay within our comfort zones and cater to those who are easier to love. But what about the ones who seem a little harder? Are we going out of our way seeking to serve the difficult neighbor? The stressed and grumpy co-worker? Those who disagree with us about everything? When we stop and think about how Jesus served others, He was willing to serve all — the ones who loved Him and the ones who did not. Jesus was willing to stop and serve people in countless ways, from providing food for thousands to listening to cries and pleas and washing people’s feet. What we cannot forget is the most beautiful act of service Jesus did for each and every one of us when He gave His life out of love and obedience to the Father.
As we seek to imitate who Jesus is and who our Father calls us to be, let us be sure to serve Him faithfully by loving all His people well, with affection and intentionality for people from all walks of life. As we step out and seek to serve others, we are not only being the hands and feet of Jesus, but inviting others to join in as well.

It is a blessing to be able to work at a place that not only trains Champions for Christ, but also encourages all of us to grow and give like Jesus. Students at Liberty University are truly blessed to gain knowledge and experience within their fields of study while also being encouraged to take their gifts and passions as witnesses into the world. As an image-bearer of Christ who has been specifically placed by God where you are, who can you serve today?

Summers (’15) is an LU Shepherd in the Office of Spiritual Development. Shepherds are part of a large network of staff and student leaders who care for students and help them grow in their faith through peer mentorships, pastoral care, and life-skills training (learn more at Liberty.edu/OSD).

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