Devotion - Thursday, August 27

In Mark 10, two of the disciples come to Jesus to ask for places of honor.  That is sort of an odd thing to do, but it allows Jesus to tell all of his followers what places of "honor" mean in his Kingdom.

Those places are places of service.  Jesus tells us "whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all."

The life of a Christian is to be recognized  by our eagerness to step into such roles of service.  The identity of a Christian is formed as we live the life of a slave.

Peter Marshall offers this advice for how we live this life and come to this self-understanding:

returning good for evil,

returning soft answers for sharp criticisms,
being polite when I receive rudeness,
being understanding when I am confronted by ignorance and stupidity.

May God aid you this day as  you seek to be the slave of all whom you meet; as you live the life of service.