One of my favorite quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the one he shares about serving.
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
It is the greatest gift and blessing we can offer to someone else. As we prepare to celebrate his memory and his work on today, the federal holiday set aside for that very purpose, it’s important to remember why we were put on this earth. Each of us are gifted in certain areas. Of course those gifts were sharpened as a result of our hard work and dedication. We can be millionaire’s with great fortune, but if we forget why we’re here, it’s considered a life wasted. My greatest fear is not living up to my fullest potential and fully utilizing the gifts God chose to instill in me. I am gifted in certain areas, so as not to make me rich with material things, but to bless those who need my talents the most. There are lives in this world I am suppose to change just by my serving them. It’s so easy to get caught up in our own lives. Our families, friends and our work are naturally our priority and sometimes we feel we have nothing left to give. We stress over things that others pray was their only challenge. If we aren’t careful, we can take for granted the blessings all around us. We should all be forever grateful that Dr. King knew he had a greater purpose on this earth. Not only did he know, he acted on his calling and lived his life in service to others. Can you imagine if he had not?
While we take this time to remember Dr. King’s legacy, his life should stir up some type of action in us. This action should go well beyond the single day we choose to celebrate him. It’s time we got busy serving others. We can choose weekly volunteer opportunities or if we have a business, offering some of our services for free to those in the greatest need. There are quite a few ways to be of service as there are always people in need. The important thing is that we move and make sure we get our children involved. The greatest lesson we can teach them, is about giving.
As I look forward to continuing to live Dr. King’s message, I am reminded of one of my favorite gospel songs,
“My life is not my own, to you I belong, I give myself, I give myself away, so God can use me.”
I am ready to be used for service.
BMWK, how have you been of service to others?