What do you get out of serving others?

Friday is Thinking day at AlexShalman.Com

There is a difference between a life of servitude and serving people on a regular basis. I would consider that monks, religious leaders and parents are living a life of servitude. Doctors, social workers, and teachers are offering a service for a living. However, regardless of what profession you choose, or where you are in life, you could be serving people on a regular basis.

People choose different paths of contribution:

Volunteer time
Donate money
Offer advice
Share experience
Motivate others
Encourage others to contribute

I’ve found that different people have different reasons to contribute. For example, did you know that in order to get into medical school you are practically required to show some volunteer time on your resume? A person that is in need of a volunteer might end up with someone that doesn’t want to be there. One can argue that beggers can’t be choosers and some help is better than none; others may say that this ruins the reputation of those volunteers that put their hearts into it.

You can think of volunteer work as something you do for others, or you may look at what you can get out of it. Another way to look at it is as an exchange. My friends house was robbed a couple of months ago, as well as several neighbors in the community. They now have a regular neighborhood watch, where all the neighbors volunteer to watch each others houses during different times.

“Never forget that the purpose for which a man lives is the improvement of the man himself, so that he may go out of this world having, in his great sphere or his small one, done some little good for his fellow creatures and labored a little to diminish the sin and sorrow that are in the world.“

~ William E. Gladstone

Journal Exercise

The question remains, what do you get out of serving others? Here are some ideas. Take some time in your daily/weekly journal to explore your reasons for volunteering and serving others. Here are some ideas:

To gain a skill
To keep busy
To have an impact
To help a friend or relative
To feel good about yourself
To not be bored
To challenge yourself
To make some friends
To feel needed
To make a difference

If you have a blog, feel free to share your take on this with your readers. Make sure you explain what you do to serve others (think hard I’m sure you can think of something!) and what your reasons are for performing this action. Feel free to link back here, in order to keep the conversation going. If you don’t have a blog, just get in this comment box below and start talking!

I would like to ask the following bloggers to share with us.

Liz Strauss – Dawud Miracle – Leo Babauta

Dave Olson – Carolyn Manning – Ann Michael

Tweet This Post

Subscribe to Alex Shalman

Advertise on Alex Shalman

Subscribe By Email

Rodney Kay

Rodney Kay said on March 20th, 2008 at 2:45 pm

I serve for a variety of reasons. I am a computer geek who is currently between computer jobs. I took a job with my church as the Assistant Children’s Director for a variety of reasons:

1. I am called to serve children by God – and my niche is tweens (4th, 5th, and 6th graders).
2. My wife is the Children’s Pastor, so I already had an “in”.
3. I was serving before I had this job, but the extra money is always nice.
4. It has taken me over 50 years to learn that the greatest good to myself is when I do good for others.

One of the big drawbacks to being on “staff” is that now when I walk up to a group of people at church, they instantly disburse because they feel I am “recruiting”. I have not yet figured out why people feel the “Children’s MInistry” is such a black hole that they will never get out from under. I asked God for years, “What would you have me do?” to which I always received the answer, “Moses was 80 before I told him.” This was not very satisfying, and at times was downright frustrating. Then I agreed (under much duress, mind you) to go with my wife to teach a 4th/5th grade class one Sunday morning. It was magic – these kids were sponges and I found myself fearful of what I would say because I could be impacting these kids for the rest of their lives. Then I heard Jesus tell me, “This is what I have for you – this is your lifework.” and I knew I had come home.

Not everyone has that type of epiphany. Not everyone has that type of revelation.

Okay, part of my “job” is to recruit – but these are “my” kids and I don’t want warm bodies to keep them occupied. I want people who are motivated and called to work with my kids before I turn them loose. So how do I find people who are dedicated to “service before self”? I am not sure I can. Thanks for the opportunity to vent.