Servant Hearts: Serving as a Family and Training Up Helpers

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A Servant-Hearted Family

Characteristics of a servant heart:

• Compassion and obedience
• Seeks out opportunities
• Serves family
• Serves community
• Reaches out to the world

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ~ John 15:12

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. ~ Romans 12:10

A few years ago I attended a talk by Michelle Anthony, author of Spiritual Parenting: An Awakening for Today’s Families. One of the best things I learned was the concept of “what needs to be done?” When I got home, I started talking to my kids about how we can start to learn to serve like Jesus by simply looking around and saying “what needs to be done?”

• Is there a can of soup in the grocery store aisle? I’ll pick it up! 
• Does the new kid look lonely or scared? I’ll go make friends with them! 
• Did the neighbor have surgery? Let’s walk her dogs!
• Does Mom look tired? I’ll make dinner for the family and do all the dishes! Well, my kids are all 6 and under. This last one may be a pipe dream just yet. 

This simple perspective shift had a truly significant change on our family culture. We occasionally need to return to that lesson (right about now would be good), but when we do, we put on our “servant heart” eyeglasses and see the world in a whole new way.  

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ~ Philippians 2:3-4 

I truly believe that the training ground for servant-hearted adults is the family. Part of our responsibility as parents is to do what we can to raise up kids who love and serve others well. Daily family life is perfect for this training:

• As moms, how can we truly serve our family instead of just going through the motions? 
• How can our kids learn to serve their siblings? 
• Can they identify a need and come up with a plan to fill it? 
• Do we treat housework as chores, or acts of service and being a responsible part of the family? 

As we make meals, go on outings, handle conflicts, care for the home, do school work, and celebrate special events, we must be diligent to keep an eye toward teaching our children to consider the needs of others, and not just their own. Any mom knows that’s practically a full-time job right there!

And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” ~ Mark 10:44-45

Most people these days don’t really know the people that live in their neighborhood. Do you? Do your kids? One of the best ways to teach our kids how to live out the command to “love your neighbor” is to love your actual neighbors. 

Just get started! Sometimes the easiest way to serve and get to know your neighbors is by walking over there with your kids and a hot plate of cookies. They might think you’re weird, but they usually get over it by the third or fourth time. Hanging out front playing or gardening is also a great way to get to know them. Your consistent presence and the help of the kids (who are natural ice-breakers) will do a lot to get a relationship started. 

Of course, you can extend this servant vision beyond your immediate neighbors and reach out to community workers such as the garbage man, mailman, police, grocery store clerk, and more. Smiling and saying hello can honestly make someone’s day. When you begin to reach out and serve them in practical ways, they will be blown away!

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! ~ 1 Chronicles 16:24

• Teach them God’s Word and character
• Tell them about His heart for the lost
• Begin to show them the need in the world
• Read servant-heart stories (family members who serve each other, missionary stories, community heroes)
• Demonstrate compassion and service
• Pray that their relationship with God would grow and that they would answer His call to service

• 5 Ways to Serve Your Family Joyfully by The Unveiled Wife
• Serving as a Family by Focus on the Family 
• Teaching Our Children the Joy of Serving Others from For the Family
• Teach Me to Serve: 99 Ways Preschoolers Can Learn to Serve and Bless Others by Kristen Summers
• Harvest Ministries by John and Anne Dunagan. 
  • The Scarlet Cord – a book about missions (we’ll be doing a flash giveaway of this on FB!)
  • The Mission-Minded Family and The Mission-Minded Child
  • Teaching With God’s Heart for the World – A FREE full year unit study curriculum 
• Operation World – Resources to help you pray for the nations
• Become a Missional Family by Missional Call (a great list of resources!)

• A Godly Marriage 
• Servant Hearts
• Saturated with Scripture, Sustained by Prayer
• Focused on Family Discipleship
• Full of Joy and Grace

Enter to win this great bundle of prizes!

• Filling Hearts While Cleaning Homes download from Lindsey Stomberg and Jennifer Thorson – adorable cards with family devotions and chores! 
• Easy Peasy Chore System Homeschool version from Good Old Days Farm – printable chore cards and a flexible chore system to help your family serve each other.  
• Teach Me to Serve: 99 Ways Preschoolers Can Learn to Serve and Bless Others eBook by Kristen Summers 
• Asia: The People and History curriculum download by Bonnie Rose Hudson