Serving Others (Part 3 of 3) - October 31, 2021

In the last two weeks, we have discussed the importance of serving others as a way to focus less on ourselves, as well as ways to maintain the delicate balance of serving others and taking care of ourselves at the same time.

This week, I thought it might be useful to discuss serving and loving God, which is also mentioned in the Gospel this weekend. How do we love and serve God? When I reflect on serving God, it reminds me of how frequently we can forget the one-on-one intimacy that God is calling us to with Him.

It is useful to imagine God like we would any relationship in our life. Imagine a friendship or spousal relationship in your life.

Would it be loving to serve them by cleaning their home, washing their car, and serving them food, but then never sitting down to talk to them and spend time with them?

On the other hand, would it be loving to spend time with them getting to know them, but then be unwilling to do anything for them? The same is true in our relationship with God.

We love and serve God by praying AND serving our fellow brothers and sisters. If we try to do one without the other, we have missed the point of today’s Gospel.

Praying and pursuing good boundaries helps us to maintain our spiritual life and mental health, while serving others helps us to get outside of ourselves and find compassion, peace, and joy in our service. Just like any loving relationship, God wants to know us and for us to know Him, and that only happens by taking the time to sit with Him.

This week, consider reflecting on the call to love and serve God, as well as the call to one-on-one intimacy with Him like we do in our current daily loving relationships.