Matthew 23:11 – The greatest among you shall be your servant.

Lord Jesus, you see clearly to the heart of the matter and you help your disciples do the same. He wanted them to learn how to lead the church and how to care for their sheep. He wanted them to understand that their position was a mercy and a gift, not a place from which to exert power and to lord it over their sheep. He wanted them to understand that leadership meant service to others and not service from others. He wanted them to understand that their preaching and teaching was to relieve burdens not to add burdens. Lord Jesus, help me learn this lesson and learn it well. Help me to see that having a title and a position of leadership is not what makes me someone. It is my identity in you that makes me who I am. It is my righteousness in you that makes me someone. It is my calling as your child that makes me a somebody. Help me see that having a position of leadership is a place from which I am to relieve burdens and to serve those who are, by position and calling only, below me. Make me a servant as I go about my work today. Make me a servant of all whom I meet today – whether they are rich or poor, lowly or mighty, powerful or weak. Make me their servant, one who relieves their burdens with your gospel. Amen.