Servant. Would you be offended if someone or one of your children called you a servant? Or would you take it as a compliment? In today’s world, people strive for control and are eager to be first. Our culture doesn’t always reward people who are being selfless. Which may make you question, “why would I want my child to have a servant heart, I want my child to be on top!” But looking at it biblically, we see that Jesus came to serve! And he told the disciple, “whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - Just as the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. Matthew 20:26-28.
So when you begin to pray for your child to have a servant heart, you are praying for them to be more like Jesus. Someone once said a servant's heart will get excited about making someone else successful. Do you encourage your kids to do that? In John 15:12-13, Jesus says, “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” God sees all of our little acts of service! Holding the door for someone, letting a sibling go first, or sharing a toy or getting something for someone when they ask. And let’s face it, older siblings ask younger siblings to get things for them all the time. Do you intervene and tell your younger child not to do it or do you allow the younger sibling to go and happily get whatever their big sister or brother wants?
Reading this chapter, Praying for Your Child to have a Servant Heart, made me look at things different. My oldest child is always asking my younger 2 kids to always get things for her. The first few times I ignored it and my younger daughter would happily run off and grab the item for her sister. Then, I started to intervene and make my oldest go get it herself. But then reading this made me think I could be using these opportunities to encourage my younger two how to have a servant's heart and do these things with a good attitude. Now trust me, I still have talks with the eldest about not abusing her siblings in this way. But using all of this as a teachable moment for everyone.
Keep an eye out for the small acts of service your child does for anyone and encourage that behavior and how to do all things as if they were actually serving Christ! You can use and even pray, Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving”. While praying, you can also pray for your child’s attitude. That their attitude be the same as Jesus and that any bad attitudes turn into kindness, compassion, generosity, and selflessness. Pray that they will want to go the extra mile for others and they do not becoming weary from doing good. (Galatians 6:9).
