The Gift of Servanthood

Most of us are familiar with the gifts of the Spirit, special abilities given by the Holy Spirit to believers for the purpose of serving others and building up the Church. I wonder how often we consider servanthood to be a spiritual gift.

To the world, a servant is looked down upon. Being a servant carries a negative impression--bondage, enslavement, servitude, burdens, and so on. And, by definition, that's exactly what a servant is. But being a servant can be a blessing, or it can be a bondage or a heavy burden. It depends on who we are serving. Being a servant of God comes with benefits of inestimable worth. The rewards of serving God are eternal.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves [servants] of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification [holiness] and its end, eternal life. (Romans 6:22)

In Romans 6 above, the term slaves/servants is used in the context of a gift. It explains four benefits of being a servant of God:

• We are free from sin.
• We become a slave/servant of God.
• We are given fruit that leads to holiness.
• We are given everlasting life.

Re-read those benefits; amazing rewards are reserved for those who maintain the heart of a servant.

Every man, woman, and child was created and designed to be a slave/servant, either to sin or to righteousness. There are no in-betweens. There is no other way. We either serve God or we serve sin.

The choice is ours, as it was in the day of Joshua 24:15 to "choose this day whom you will serve."

Choose God, and you choose LIFE! Being a servant then becomes a benefit, a privilege, and a blessing rather than a burden or punishment.

What is your choice?

Prayer

Father, thank You for freeing me from sin, giving me the gift of servanthood, calling me to be Your servant, gifting me with the fruits of holiness, and giving me everlasting life. Lord, for all this, I cannot begin to thank You enough. I am honored and blessed to be called Your servant. Amen.

"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods." (Joshua 24:15-16)

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© 2026 Jan Ross
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