Selfless Servants

A group of high school students from my church recently went out to serve the community of Pomona. My group was sent to a grooming shop on Garey. We will all admit, going there we thought we would be working with animals... But we quickly found out we'd actually be doing the complete opposite.
Once we got there we washed down and scrubbed the cement and cleaned the bathroom inside. These tasks aren't things we would normally volunteer to do, but it wasn't about the job, it was about serving the way Jesus does. So after we'd finished, we asked what else we could do.
With the minimal supplies we had, we decided we would wash the staff's cars. As we washed, a couple of us noticed a man who appeared to be homeless behind a dumpster across the parking lot. He had parked his cart of belongings next to the dumpster and as we watched him we thought he was doing graffiti, but we realized he was actually removing it.
Our church was hosting a homeless ministry event that day and we thought it was the perfect opportunity to invite him. We walked over him, introduced ourselves, and asked him what he was doing. He quickly replied "I'm removing the graffiti. People shouldn't be tagging up the city with graffiti, but tagging it up with Jesus".
We hadn't even told him we were apart of a church, but this man we have never even met, stands in front of us, with all belongings sitting in a small stroller, clothes dirty, and hair tangled, showing us what he is doing. Showing the Lord's love to our city. Showing the Lord's love to us.
Serving the way the Lord serves... Selflessly.
This man's name was James.
James is a perfect example of the way Jesus asks us to serve. It's so easy to become wrapped up in serving and how it makes us feel. We forget that the God we should be serving like, doesn't serve selfishly, but with the concern and wishes of others.
So what's keeping you from selflessly serving? Go be like James. Go be selfless servants of the Lord.
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:3‬ ‭

-Dani