A Servant’s Heart

The Path to Christ-Like Service

A Devotional Study of
1 Peter 4: 7 – 11

By Kara H. Duckworth

Week 12: Serving to Glorify

 Week 12: Serving To Glorify
{Day 1} At Your Service

Read: 1 Peter 4: 11b; Acts 6: 1 – 7; 1 Corinthians 16: 15 - 16

“…if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides ...” (HCS)

“It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.” (NIV)

“For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition.” (NIV)

In our focal passage, Peter states that each believer has received a spiritual gift and that she should use it in serving others. In
verse 11, he divides the gifts into two broad categories: speaking gifts (the focus of Week 11) and serving gifts. Serving gifts
relate to the many behind-the-scenes tasks that keep the body going in its mission to impact the world with the gospel.

In Acts 6, we see the division of gifts in action. The church had grown to the point that the twelve apostles couldn’t serve
everyone effectively. People were falling through the cracks. Recognizing this, they called a meeting of the entire body and
announced the need for a division of labor. The Twelve needed to concentrate on apostleship, evangelism, pastoring, prophecy,
and teaching – chiefly using the speaking gifts. However, in order for them to be freed up to do that, they needed others gifted in
serving to come alongside them.

It’s interesting that the Greek word diakonia is used for “ministry” throughout the New Testament, because its literal meaning is
“to wait tables” – the phrase the Twelve used here to represent the part of the workload they could no longer handle.

Notice, the Twelve didn’t just leave to do their thing, abandoning the others to sort out everything else. They purposefully called
for a consensus on Spirit-filled, wise men to perform these vital tasks. The result of this restructuring was the further spread of
the gospel, the growth of the church, and the conversion of many Jews.

You have a serving gift if your strength is administration (to rule or govern), leadership (to care for others), exhortation (to
encourage), mercy (to be compassionate toward the suffering), giving (to impart), or serving (also known as “helps” or
“ministry”; to wait tables).1 These gifts are essential to the healthy function of the body. Their use refreshes others, particularly
those that are exercising the speaking gifts. Their use results in gospel proclamation, church expansion, and conversion of the
lost. As Paul said to the Corinthian church, you deserve recognition!

Ponder: A pastor once introduced me to an elderly couple in my church whom he referred to

as “salt of the earth people.” By that, he meant that they were hard-working, helpful
believers who sacrificed to do anything behind-the-scenes to support the body. Do you
know any Christians like that? Is your gift in the category of serving gifts?

Pray: Thank God for the many believers you know in the body that are exercising their
serving gifts. Ask His blessing on them as they serve.
1
Jeff Carver, “Definitions and Descriptions,” www.spiritualgiftstest.com 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
 Week 12: Serving To Glorify
{Day 2} In His Strength

Read: 1 Peter 4: 11b; 2 Corinthians 11: 22- 12: 10

“…if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides ...” (HCS)

“For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (NIV)

This is it, my dear friends! We are in the countdown week to our long-anticipated event. And life, seemingly triggered by the return of spring to
our beautiful city, has begun to move in fast-forward. Those in the academic world begin the final sprint toward the end-of-semester finish line
with a vengeance. Those in the sports world begin spring practices and training. Those in the landscaping or urban farming world ready their
lawn mowers and pruning shears and buy new plants for their flower beds and gardens. Those in the ministry world begin follow-up with the
dozens (or even hundreds) of new faces that came through the doors for Easter. Family, job, home, and community responsibilities pull at all of
us. Our brains are crammed with the competing things that need our attention. If you are adding a ministry retreat or trip to your usual load, you
may start to question the wisdom of that decision!

Lord, we’ve never felt so weak!

As a servant of Jesus Christ, Paul faced more difficulties than we can ever imagine. Imprisonment, flogging, life-threatening circumstances,
lashings, beatings, stonings, shipwreck, drifting at sea, dangers, insomnia, and deprivation. We have a hard time relating to Paul’s experiences,
but we can certainly relate to this next part: Besides his day job, Paul also had the added pressure of constant concern for all the churches. We
feel the same way about those entrusted to our care. And Paul also freely admitted to being weak and tempted to sin.

God gave Paul an exclusive view of heaven. Paul saw and heard things there he would’ve loved to share, but that he wasn’t allowed. Instead, God
humbled him by afflicting him with some physical ailment. Although Paul begged God to heal him, God answered with this profound statement:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” My ESV Study Bible notes on this verse indicate t hat rather than
building his ministry on the spectacle of what he saw in heaven to show God’s power, Paul would, as a result of the “thorn,” build his ministry
upon his weakness.

Though we would love to show the world God’s miraculous power, majesty, and strength through signs and wonders, He astounds us by drawing
people to Himself through our weaknesses.

Jesus loves me
This I know
For the Bible
Tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak
But He is strong

Rest easy, child of God! Know that you don’t have to accomplish all that’s on your plate in your feeble strength. God’s power shines through in
your weakness. You provide the humble heart, the willing tongue, hands, and feet; He provides the strength.

He carries you. And He is strong!

Ponder: Are you feeling overwhelmed and weak right now? What burdens are you carrying?

Pray: Ask God to carry your burdens. Put yourself in His strong and able arms. Ask Him to use your
willing heart to show His strength. Ask Him for physical stamina and strength to be His hands and
feet.
 Week 12: Serving To Glorify
{Day 3} Not My Strength

Read: 1 Peter 4: 11; Isaiah 30: 15 – 22; Psalm 20:7

“…if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides ...” (HCS)

“… in quietness and trust is your strength.” (NIV)

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (NIV)

We say we want to own a dependable car – one that won’t break down on us and can get us safely and comfortably
from “A” to “B.” We check the weather forecast to know whether to expect hot or cold, rainy, stormy, or snowy. We
call our doctor to take care of health needs. Our jobs with those steady paychecks keep us in clothes, food, and
house. Cooking and storing food, cleaning, and seeing at night would be impossible without electricity. Internet
connection affords the luxury of communication, shopping, researching, and entertainment. And how much do we
depend on our phones? They solve everything from alarm clock to calendar; address book to newspaper; camera to
radio; as well as communication device.

You could probably say with me, “We trust in technology and we trust in people; but we should trust in God.

The truth is, our trust in all these things is entirely misplaced. Every one of them comes under God’s sovereignty. He
can take away or change any of these things in which we trust in the blink of an eye.

The prophet Isaiah related God’s words to His people. God lamented that they knew the right answers as to where
their strength came from: in repentance, rest, quietness, and trust; but they deliberately turned away from Him.
Instead, they put their trust in their own way, in their own strength. God said the result would be that their enemies
would pursue and overtake them and that they’d be an exposed target.

If you find yourself putting your trust in your own strength or in your own way, the good news is you can turn that
around and God will be waiting for you.

“He longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.”

Isn’t that beautiful?

Don’t look for strength in anything, ANYTHING, but the Name of the Lord our God.

Ponder: Who is someone you turn to in solving your problems or that you count on
to provide your needs? Do you ever find yourself devising a way to take on
something on your own? What things do you trust in?

Pray: Ask God to forgive your stubborn pride in taking your own way. Ask Him to
help you put your trust fully in Him to provide, sustain, protect, and direct
all things.
 Week 12: Serving To Glorify
{Day 4} Not To Us

Read: 1 Peter 4: 11; Psalm 115:1

“…if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides ...” (HCS)

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” (NIV)

The End Is Near!

A disheveled, deranged man holding a sign with that slogan used to be a trope in many movies. Despite his dubious
depiction, the man’s message is certainly true. Peter first penned those very words nearly 2000 years ago. We know
Peter as a reliable, first-hand witness to the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter said because
the end is near, we need to feel a sense of urgency in prayer, in loving intensely, in extending hospitality, in
speaking, and in serving others.

Why?

First, we serve others out of love because it shows the world we belong to Christ. Jesus gave His followers a new
command at the Last Supper: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another.” {John 13: 34 – 35, NIV; emphasis mine}

Second, we serve others out of love because Jesus taught us to be the light of the world. “In the same way, let your
light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” {Matthew 5:16, NIV}

So people will praise you? So you will get more followers on your social media or on your blog? So people will vote
the way you do? So people will think, “Oh, Christians aren’t so bad”? So more people will come to your church?

No, we must serve in a way that makes it clear that it’s God’s strength in us enabling us and God’s love motivating
us. That way, the glory goes where it belongs. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us …”

Finally, we serve others out of love because they belong to the family of God. “Therefore, as we have opportunity,
let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” {Galatians 6:10, NIV} Our
acts of service to one another in the body also act as a witness to an unbelieving world of unity among all believers.
Our unity is the evidence to the world that Jesus was sent by God, therefore, bringing God more glory.

In all things, in all acts of service, the goal is the magnification of the Name. Even as Peter was writing his epistle,
he paused to give God some praise, right here at the end of our focal passage:

“To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Ponder: What does it look like when individuals focus the praise on themselves rather
than on God? Have you ever been guilty of that?

Pray: Worship and adore your God today as you prepare to bring Him glory in everything
you say and do.
 Week 12: Serving To Glorify
{Day 5} One Last Look

Read: 1 Peter 4: 7 – 11; Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 54:13

“To him be the glory…” (NIV)

By now, you’re intimately familiar with Peter’s message to you about serving in light of the times in which you live.
You’ve looked in depth at the example for service (Christ Himself), preparation to serve, preparing your mind for
prayer, different types of prayer, maintaining intense love, hospitality, spiritual gifts, speaking gifts, and serving
gifts. Each day, you’ve pondered the connections to your personal walk with God. You’ve dreamed a little about the
people you will serve. You’ve prayed for every aspect of your experience as a minister.

What I’d like you to do this morning is go back to where you paraphrased our focal passage in Week 2, Day1. Re-
read your paraphrase. Now, re-write your paraphrase of each verse, adding what God has revealed to you since then.

1 Peter 4:7

1 Peter 4:8

1 Peter 4:9

1 Peter 4:10

1 Peter 4:11

Write a few lines praising God for who He is and what He is about to do.

Now to God who has been our teacher as we’ve searched the scripture, all praise and glory to You! You have
instructed and taught us in the way we should go; you have counseled and watched over us. Great will be our peace.

Amen.
 Appendix

1 Peter 4: 7 – 11 Kara’s Paraphrase and Key Words

The time for the eternal kingdom is close. Because of this, you must be PRAYERFUL. Don’t let
yourself be too distracted to PRAY. {undistracted prayer}

Pay attention to this. It is of the highest importance: do whatever you need to do to keep your
love intense. Love has the ability to cover SO MANY SINS! Love is the answer to how others
slight you, embarrass you, mistreat you, anger you, reject you, disappoint you. Let your intense
love for them cover all of this. In light of eternity, love is more important. {intense love}

Open your home and your heart to others. People need to experience your warmth and love. It is
the vehicle for sharing your eternal hope. Again, in light of eternity, be HOSPITABLE. It is an
act of service and an act of love. Don’t complain that you don’t have time to yourself, that you
don’t have the money to entertain. People respond to your hospitality. It’s not as complicated as
you think. {hospitality}

The spiritual gifts we’ve been given, by God’s grace, are varied. Find your own way to serve
others, using your unique gift. God wants us to be good stewards of the gifts he gave us. How
will you use it? {serving gifts}

Be assured that if God has gifted you with speaking (teaching, prophesying, preaching,
encouraging, praying), He will fill you with his words. As if He himself is speaking a message
through you. {speaking gifts}

If you are doing acts of service, God will strengthen you for your task, because he is glorified
when we serve in his supernatural strength. Verbally acknowledge his eternal dominion and
affirm his sovereignty over all. Amen! {supernatural strength}