Luke 17:9

“Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?” Luke 17:9

This verse is encouraging and convicting to me because it reminds me that I am not to serve the Lord for the praise and approval of men. This can be really challenging, and yet also really freeing.

There is such an entitlement mentality in our culture. Instead of people laying down their rights to serve the Lord, they often feel that they are entitled to so many things. Even when serving the Lord, we all too often feel entitled. We start getting a holier than thou attitude because we feel as though we are doing so much for the Lord. We start to feel entitled to things because, after all, we are so dedicated to Jesus and thus certainly deserve great blessings. These thoughts are full of self and pride, and yet many would probably confess to feeling this way from time to time. One of the things we may feel entitled to while serving Jesus is appreciation and thanks. We may work really hard serving Jesus by serving someone, and expect that person to express thanksgiving to us. I feel that the person we are serving should indeed be thankful, and yet I also feel that on our part we need to not expect that thanks to be given us. We need to make sure that in our hearts we are serving Jesus because we love Him and not serving someone because we want their approval and thanks.

Let’s face it. It can be really hard not to be thanked. It’s something so simple, and yet it bothers us so much. When I worked at Costco giving out samples, it really bothered me how many people would take a sample and not even say thank you. I understood that I was simply doing my job and that I didn’t buy the food with my own money, but to me it just seemed like common sense to say thank you when you are given free food. My parents raised me to always say please and thank you and I quickly found out that not everyone has been raised that way. Now, I still think that it is important to be polite and say please and thank you, but at the end of the day I went home knowing that my part was to simply be faithful to do my job regardless of if the customers thanked me or not. I didn’t stop serving the samples because they didn’t say thank you. If I did, I would have been in trouble, because it wasn’t about being thanked, it was about being faithful to do my job.

How does one serve the Lord wholeheartedly not longing for or expecting gratitude? I believe that how one does this is to live a life of thanksgiving yourself. It can be frustrating not being thanked, and yet when you decide to spend your life thanking Jesus for all He has done for you, then you won’t have time to focus on how you’re not being thanked. The truth is, you and I aren’t worthy. We aren’t worthy to be thanked and appreciated, but Jesus is. He is the only One worthy of praise and thanksgiving. I don’t want to waste my time feeling irritated that I’m not being thanked, because I don’t deserve it. I want to spend my time thanking the only One who does deserve it. I want to live a life of total service to Him, and I want my heart to be filled to overflowing with thanksgiving for all He has done for me. He is so, so faithful, and I want to thank and praise Him every day for His faithfulness.

Application: I want my life to be marked by thankfulness. Jesus has been so good to me and I want others to see His goodness in me. I don’t want to complain about things, because that doesn’t bring Him glory. Instead, I want to be filled with thanksgiving. Today I will ask someone on my team to keep me accountable to not complain. I will also spend time thanking Jesus for all He has done for me.