The motivating force in creating such hearts is going to be gratitude and love. Someday, service for others will be as natural to mankind as breathing or eating. Serving God and their fellow man will be so ingrained in everyone that a day will rarely go by without the desire to do something kind for someone. It is a blessing to even imagine such a world. How different it will be for a race that has been fighting and killing one another for some 6000 years.

A summary goal of the Divine Plan is "To create a race devoted to God, united under Christ, committed to righteous principles, dedicated to the welfare of their fellow man." Devoted ... united ... committed ... dedicated ... Those are powerful words that depict what God endeavors to plant in all of our hearts.

That goal makes the experience with sin and death absolutely necessary. Such experience teaches us the need for God, and for the righteous principles He stands for. We often say that God could have created us as robots, programmed to follow certain rules. But that approach has a significant flaw.

The Fatal Flaw

The fatal flaw in a universe of robots is that service and obedience given out of compulsion or programming is weak and undevoted. It lacks the element that brings the deepest happiness and the greatest energy, love. Robots cannot love from the heart. Forcing man to obey does not lead to the greatest service. It is not God-like living. God’s choice, based on His highest wisdom, was to make an intelligent creation in His own image. Thus all service must come from an overflowing heart, filled with love and appreciation. That is the image of God. Anything else would be an inferior creation.

But what about those who want to serve the Lord today, in this present age? How can we learn to serve out of abundant hearts? We want to learn how to serve willingly, without guilt or compulsion. But, as we endeavor to do so, we find that it is so much more difficult to be a willing servant when most of society is not. Instead, their motivation is selfishness and self-advancement. If we are not careful, we can be affected by these negative influences and not become the servants that God is looking for.

The Spirit of Willingness

In the portrait of a true servant, the willing spirit is one of the first qualities illustrated in the Scriptures. Exodus 35 records the time when God gave the instructions for building the Tabernacle. There He made it very clear that the free will of the people was essential.

"This is the thing which Jehovah commanded ... Take ye from among you an offering unto Jehovah: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of Jehovah ... every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing ... brought Jehovah’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came both men and women, as many as were willing hearted. ... The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto Jehovah, every man and woman whose heart made them willing" (Exodus 35:4, 5, 21, 22, 29).

Notice how many times the word "willing" is mentioned. God saw the value for the Israelites to participate in the construction of the Tabernacle by offering their own possessions. He wanted them to understand that sometimes it costs to worship God. There is great wisdom in this approach. When we donate to a particular work, it will naturally mean more to us. When we labor and sacrifice for a special cause, that cause takes on more meaning and significance in our lives. When we give in the Lord’s service, that service becomes more valuable to us.

The Israelite who willingly contributed probably remembered that God’s hand caused the Egyptians to flood the Israelites with all these gifts. The Egyptians thought it would help get rid of the Israelites as well as the lice, flies, and other plagues. Those Israelites whose "hearts were made willing" discerned that God’s goodness gave them their possessions in the first place. These had little trouble donating those things back to the worship of God. When we recognize that our possessions were given to us by God, it easier to give them for the Lord’s cause. Time and again, where there is a willing heart, God brings abundant blessings.

When David knew that his life was nearing its end, he installed his son Solomon as the next king of Israel. 1 Chronicles 28:6-10 record David’s dying counsel to Solomon. "Thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind ... if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever" (1 Chronicles 28:9).

Having a "perfect heart" is to have a "complete heart," an undivided loyalty. With that undivided loyalty Solomon was admonished to have a willing mind. Those are qualities that God saw in the young Solomon, so He knew Solomon was qualified to reign over Israel. The most important qualification that made Solomon stand apart from his brothers was not intelligence or talent. It was an undivided loyalty and a willing mind. This is a key lesson for those who want to live and reign with Christ.

The New Testament says of Jesus, "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28 NASB). One of the great blessings that Jesus brought to this world was his desire to serve us. He also came to teach us how to serve and to show us how to serve. He taught us what the proper motivation for service should be.

From Jesus’ words the goal for a mature Christian should be, "What can I give?" "How can I serve?" That is the ideal that Jesus lived, taught, and exampled, for his followers to emulate.

Jesus’ words suggest that having the proper motivation is the key to successfully walking the Narrow Way. So we ask, "What is the right Biblical motivation that we should be striving for in our service for the Lord?"

Jesus gives us the answer in these inspiring words: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34, 35). Our demonstration of love would indicate that we are his disciples. In other words, love is defined by its actions.

In this text the word "love" is from the Greek word agapao. This word is distinct from phileo love, which is family affection and brotherly love. Agapao is a purer and the highest form of love. When expressed to family and friends, brotherly love is usually reciprocated. But agapao does not need to be returned. To love someone who does not love in return is difficult. To serve someone who never does anything in return shows that agapao has been reached. That is the standard that we are to strive for. That is the motivation that a true servant must seek, a love that wants to serve because serving is right, good, and God-like.

If we never serve others, it might mean that we do not really love them, because love is defined by its actions.

In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul related his experiences in Macedonia. He took a collection for the poverty-stricken brethren in Jerusalem. Notably, brethren in Macedonia were themselves in poverty, yet Paul was amazed at their response. They begged him to let them donate to help their brethren in Jerusalem. They found a way to share their meager funds.

"We must tell you about the grace that God has given to the Macedonian churches. Somehow, in most difficult circumstances, their overflowing joy and the fact of being down to their last penny themselves, produced a magnificent concern for other people ... they were willing to give to the limit of their means, yes and beyond their means, without the slightest urging from me or anyone else. In fact they simply begged us to accept their gifts and so let them share the honor of supporting their brothers in Christ. Nor was their gift, as I must confess I had expected, a mere cash payment. Instead they made a complete dedication of themselves first to the Lord, and then to us, as God’s appointed ministers" (2 Corinthians 8:1-5 Phillips).

There are some important qualities noted in the Macedonian churches that add to the portrait of a true servant. First, note the anonymity of the givers. No individual is mentioned. Not even one specific church is mentioned. Paul simply says "the churches of Macedonia" did these things. A true servant of God usually prefers to remain anonymous. In fact, most true servants are embarrassed when they are put in the spotlight. A true servant is just as enthusiastic when he or she serves without anyone else noticing. Let us remember that lesson the next time our flesh wants some recognition.

The next quality demonstrated by the Macedonian churches is a sympathetic heart. Paul said that "In their overflowing joy ... they produced a magnificent concern for other people." What a wonderful tribute and evidence of the holy Spirit in their lives. They were willing to give to their brethren in Jerusalem while they themselves were struggling to make ends meet. Their giving was genuine. Giving is a greater expression of the heart when it costs something.

When ecclesias hold an election of elders and deacons, they often study the qualifications listed in Timothy. Yet the verses considered have a much broader application for the wider body of Christians.

"For the office of bishop [overseer] a man must be of blameless reputation, he must be married to one wife only, and be a man of self-control and discretion. He must be a man of disciplined life; he must be hospitable and have the gift of teaching. He must be neither intemperate not violent, but gentle. He must not be a controversialist nor must he be fond of money-grabbing. He must have the proper authority in his own household, and be able to control and command the respect of his children. (For if a man cannot rule in his own house how can he look after a church of God?) He must not be a beginner in the faith, for fear of his becoming conceited and sharing the devil’s downfall. He should, in addition to the above qualifications, have a good reputation with the outside world, in case his good name is attacked and he is caught by the devil that way" (1 Timothy 3:2-7 Phillips).

These qualities are not exclusively for elders. We should elect only brethren who exhibit these qualities but they are no less important in all of the Lord’s people. Is it just elders who should be hospitable? Is it acceptable for those who are not elders to be controversialists, or greedy for money? Certainly not. Hospitality comes from a desire to serve and comfort others. To not be a controversialist is to be a peacemaker. These are essential qualities in a Christ-like servant.

Paul also lists qualifications for deacons. "Deacons, similarly, should be men of serious outlook and sincere conviction. They too should be temperate and not greedy for money. They should hold the mystery of the faith with complete sincerity ... Their wives should share their serious outlook, and must be women of discretion and self-control — women who can be trusted. Deacons should be men with only one wife, able to control their children and manage their own households properly. Those who do well as deacons earn for themselves a certain legitimate standing, as well as gaining confidence and freedom in the Christian faith" (1 Timothy 3:8-13 Phillips). This list is quite interesting: Serious about their consecrations, sincere in their convictions, not greedy, self-controlled, and trustworthy. These are essential qualities for a Christ-like servant.

How do we summarize the portrait of a faithful servant? It is the art of unselfish living, an art that is practiced by few and mastered by fewer still. Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29 NASB). The yoke that Jesus asks us to carry would be overwhelming if we resented it. Service to others would be a great burden if we did not really want to do it. But when we accept service as a privilege and an honor, like those Macedonian brethren did, it changes everything. When we look at the portrait of a servant that the Scriptures draw for us, we see a most wonderful and gratifying lifestyle — a lifestyle designed by God Himself!