A Time of Learning

Before I came here to Romania, I received a blessing from Adam, and one of the things that stood out to me in the blessing was that this will be a time of learning. That is definitely right! I am learning so much here! I’ve written down five of the things I am learning that have to do with interpersonal relationships, and I am going to try to add one a day for the next five days in my blog. Here’s today’s:

When you are focused on and mindful of the service you are giving to other people, it’s easy to get into the mindset that you deserve something from the people you’re serving. Whether that be a display of appreciation, expression of love, or reciprocation of some kind of service from them. But it’s best to try to not get into that mindset, but rather maintain an attitude that you don’t deserve anything for the good things you do. I’ve found a way to do this is to consider your service as serving God rather than whoever your service is aimed to benefit. Because a) when you serve others, you’re serving God!, and b) none of us deserve anything from God! We will forever be in debt to Him.
For example, when you do your roommates’ dishes, rather than thinking, “I’m such a good person, I’m doing their dishes. I hope they notice and are grateful for all this work I’m doing for them,” it’s better to think, “I’m so excited I get to serve God, because He is so eternally good and merciful to me, and I’m grateful I get to show my appreciation for everything He gives me.” This is hard to do, but I think it’s worth trying.