5 Love Languages - Acts of Service
May 22, 2022
We’re in our final week of the series on the 5 love languages, which is based on the book by Gary Chapman, The Five Love Languages and is really predicated on the passage from Jesus in John 13, which tells us - - -
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:34-35
That should be the basis for everything we do. We’re called to love. It’s to follow this new way of thinking, not just to love others who you like and are similar to, it’s to even love your enemies. It’s to love others in the same manner in which Christ loves us. It’s sacrificial. And if we were to be really honest, sacrificial love is not easy and it’s usually not very convenient, either.
And sometimes it’s not always convenient to fully love the one you’re married to, or even your kids. It’s not always easy to give sacrificial love to those you love the most. That’s what this entire series has been based on.
If you have not taken the love language quiz to better understand your love language, then please do it. If you’re not sure of your kids or spouses love language, then have them take the quiz too. It’s a great 15 minutes of investing in your life and the lives of the people you love.
We’ve looked at the love languages of - - -
Words of Affirmation
Quality Time
Giving / Receiving Gifts
Physical Touch
And today we’re looking at our last love language . . . ACTS OF SERVICE
Again, none of these are super hard to put into motion, but they all take thoughtfulness and some time, so that we can be very intentional as we demonstrate the love of Christ to others.
So, what are Acts of service?
The greatest way to say it is through the word SERVANTHOOD. For some people that’s not the most fun word to hear. But that’s what it’s all about. How can I serve you? How can I fulfill your wants and needs in a manner which brings honor and glory to Christ?
Many churches have Deacons, as we do, which comes from the Greek word which means - to serve or be a servant, to minister to another.
We see that in Acts 6 when there was a need for more people to serve. Luke wrote -
2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.
3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you 7 men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.
4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering - Acts 6:2-5
That’s where we see the deacons called. They were the ones who were going to be serving the people while others would be doing the preaching and teaching.
But we see this word for serving earlier in the gospels. We may not realize it, but Jesus used this same Greek word, diakaneos - - -
In Mark 10, Jesus said - - -
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” - Mark 10:45
That’s the same Greek word at use. It’s a call for us to serve. Now some people find love when people do something for them. We see it repeatedly in the Bible. The greatest example, again comes in Jesus.
Let me set the scene for you. It’s the final night of His life, and Jesus is with the disciples at the Passover meal. As they walked into that upper room, there would have been a basin, a pitcher of water and towels. There would be a servant to wash the feet of the guests. This was one of the more demeaning tasks for a servant. Kind of like being the lowest of the lowest servants.
There weren’t paved roads, they walked with sandals through the dust, sand, and dirt and their feet would be filthy. It was common courtesy to have a servant wash the guests feet.
But there’s nobody there to wash their feet. So, the disciples walk past the water and towel and sat down. They may have felt it was beneath them. They seemed to be more interested in being served.
None of the disciples wanted to wash their feet or the others. Where would that put them in the pecking order. They’d be at the bottom of the heap. Remember, these are the same disciples who argued over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
So, Jesus walks into the room, sits down to eat and then, John tells us - - -
4 Jesus rose from supper. He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist.
5 Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
The One who the disciples called the King of kings and the Lord of lords takes on the role of the lowliest of servants and unlaces their sandals and lifts the feet of each of His disciples. The One whom we kneel to in prayer is the One who kneels before His disciples. Jesus washes their soiled, sweaty, hard, callused feet.
The hands that will be pierced are the same hands that scrub the grime away. When it came time for Jesus to show the full extent of His love, He picked up the basin, the water pitcher and the towel.
That is such a powerful story - - - a powerful image of who Jesus is - - - and it’s a call of who we are to be as well. On the one hand, we’re all called to be servants. If we see something that needs to be taken care of, we go out and do it. If we see the kitchen is a mess, we clean it, if we see trash on the grounds, we clean it. If we see something that’s wrong, we seek to fix it.
There are people who thrive on ACTS OF SERVICE being done for them. That’s how they experience love and acceptance.
For some people, they need to see action behind the love. Simply to say “I love you” is nice, but the actions are what mean the most. So, how can you show love through acts of service?
And most of the time, the expectations aren’t out of the world. And to be really healthy in all of this . . . it’s important to talk about expectations and to show appreciation for what’s done.
Ultimately, if you don’t show appreciation for any of these love languages, then most likely the person who’s trying to love you, may stop, because there is no positive feedback.
Some examples of acts of service would include - - -
Cooking a meal, setting a table, washing dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, taking out the garbage, changing the baby’s diaper, painting a bedroom, washing a car, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, changing the water in the goldfish bowl, changing the litter box, going grocery shopping, organizing a room or closet.
What’s important is that each of these requires thought, planning, time, effort and energy. If done with a joyful spirit, they are indeed expressions of love.
What Does This Mean?
Jesus is the creator of all things and He teaches us how to love well by example throughout the Bible.
Most of us pick up Chapman’s book and think, “If I get this right, maybe he’ll love me how I want to be loved.” But a word of caution, learning someone’s love language is sacrificial like Christ.
Jesus never asked for anything in return, even as He poured out His life. He gave freely with no strings attached. We’re to follow His example and love well.
We can also draw closer to God through acts of service. In Ephesians 2, Paul wonderfully and powerfully reminds us of who we are in Christ, saying - - -
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
We were created for good works. We are called to go into the world and serve. We are called to make a difference in the world. Every believer has received spiritual gifts from God, through the Holy Spirit. And we are called to use them for the glory of God.
James tells us - - -
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. - James 2
Again, it’s the call to action. It’s not to earn our salvation, we can never do that. Instead the call is to use our faith, to take the faith given to us in Christ and make a difference in the world because of our actions . . . which are done in the name of Jesus and for His glory and kingdom.
There are so many ways we can make a difference. You can get involved at church. You can volunteer in one of so many different opportunities. You can be up front in the choir or praise team, you can be greeting people, teaching, doing tech stuff, art work, and more.
You can volunteer at an organization or ministry. There are many around the Alexandria area, ones in Madison County and beyond that if you don’t know, just ask. I’d be glad to talk about what you can do.
You see, when we recognize what Jesus did for us. When we consider the acts of service from God to you and I, we should be compelled because of His great acts of grace and mercy. Because the Father sent the Son for you and I to die for us.
Because God loves you so much that He has adopted you as His child, because He sent the Holy Spirit to be your constant companion . . . we should have no other desire than to go out and do good in the name of Jesus.
Again, that does not earn us salvation. Simply it’s the outpouring of our love for God and now we demonstrate our love for Jesus to the world.
It’s from the great old song - - - which tells us - - -
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they'll know we are Christians by our love.
The image we get from that song is they’ll know we are Christians because of the way we love one another.
It’s the love of Christ that leads us to serve others. We may not always feel like serving – serving others can be inconvenient and messy, we may get our hands dirty in the process, but we serve because God has called us to be servants.
Sometimes we miss the basin, water pitcher and towel. Sometimes we think it’s beneath us, but I want you to ask yourself if getting on His knees to wash the disciples feet was beneath Jesus? Was it beneath Him to go to the cross for us?
If you want to serve . . .
You can even make meals for people. Or make cookies and we will distribute them for you.
Help out at an animal shelter.
Clean the park without being asked.
Walk around the church and clean or pull weeds.
Find out who has a need, because nobody really likes to admit they have a need. Does someone need light bulbs changed, a smoke detector battery changed, some work done in their home, yard clean up? How can you give back?
I believe this is a basin, water pitcher and towel kind of church. One of the greatest expressions of our love is to serve to one another. May God continue to open our eyes to dirty feet and give us a heart to wash them.
We reach out to God as we experience His grace, mercy and power.
Then we reach in, as we look at who we are, allowing His Spirit to work within us.
And then we reach out to a world which is hurting and in need of grace.
