Luke 17:7 If one of you has a slave tending the sheep or plowing, when he comes back from the field, will you say to him, ‘Come along now, sit down and eat’? 8 No, you’ll say, ‘Get my supper ready, dress for work, and serve me until I have finished eating and drinking; after that, you may eat and drink.’ 9 Does he thank the slave because he did what he was told to do? No! 10 It’s the same with you — when you have done everything you were told to do, you should be saying, ‘We’re just ordinary slaves, we have only done our duty.’”
Don’t you love being recognized for being (or doing) good?
Helping someone in need, feeding hungry people, offering an encouraging word to someone that’s down -- getting that bit of gratitude for giving part of ourselves to someone else really makes us feel good, huh?
We’re expected to be grateful so we expect the same from others also. But that ‘thank you’ (if you get it) is short and sweet. It’s nice, but you really want it to go on a bit more, right? I mean, stretch it out over a few days at least.
Why do we need that? Why do we want recognition?
Well, we don’t want to waste our time on people that don’t deserve it. We’re busy and we’re important. People need to recognize that and thank us for being so gracious to them. Surrendering our valuable time…for them!
They must have some nerve being ungrateful.
Wait...getting off track here. Blood pressure is up just reading that…back on point now.
We like it when people acknowledge our value. Especially when we add value to them.
If everything you just read goes against every fiber of your being, it’s likely because you are prideful.
Wait, what?!
If you are insistent on getting no recognition and wanting to avoid the spotlight, you may want to check your motivation here also.
False humility goes something like this:
“No, no. Please don’t pay attention to me for helping you out. I just want to stay in my lowly corner over here and make sure you know how much it isn’t necessary to applaud me for being of service to you. Please don’t even look at me. Hey, over here, look at me…Oh, you’re looking, ok, please stop looking.”
This posture is nearly identical to true humility but you know deep down whether you’re wanting that little bit of attention or not. It’s hard to detect this in others sometimes but anyone with discernment can sniff this out like it’s limburger cheese.
If there is an embarrassment associated with serving then you need to reevaluate your service. Why would you be embarrassed about serving? Turns out you aren’t embarrassed. You either are begging for praise silently by over selling your lowliness, or you really believe you are worth very little. Both of these are a shout out to your insecurities. Which means the focus in all of this is you, not the other person.
This is a delicate issue. People on the outside can’t see this as well as you feel this. And you know that feeling.
The key here is for you to get some healing in your identity. You need to be rooted in Him, not rooted in your insecurity.
Think of the servant Yeshua mentioned above. The servant that brings out the food should set the food down and make sure the person he’s serving has all they need. Then quietly recede back into the kitchen without being noticed.
He doesn’t stand and wait for a thank you like the person above needing recognition. He also doesn’t go out of his way to talk about how it wasn’t a big deal to bring the food out.
Doing our job and calling that, and that alone, good. This is how we are to be. True servants.
If you are truly humble, you don’t care what the response from someone else is.
If they thank you, you say, “you’re welcome”. You don’t downplay it and you don’t make a scene pretending to be embarrassed. You simply say, “you’re welcome” (with no explanation point). Eye to eye with sincerity. And that’s it.
If they don’t say anything, you are equally fine. You don’t weigh whether to help them in the future if they say nothing, and you don’t hold them in judgment for it either. If you were helping in order to get a response, YOU are the one that is guilty. You should be more upset with yourself than the person that ignored you.
I get that it hurts when you help and people can’t even go to the trouble to say thank you. That’s wrong and they should be held accountable. And they will be held accountable. But not by you.
This is the key to it all. A slave deserves no accolades for doing what they have been called to do.
It’s your job.
And if that bothers you, then you don’t understand why you’re here. A servant of ALL, remember? If you truly claim to be a servant of Yah, then you have some repenting to do if you are still thinking of that one time that ungrateful...
Who do you have on the hook for failing to show gratitude towards you?
You really need to think long and hard about this.
Once you finally understand who you are in the Messiah, you will stop demanding justice from your good works. You will do them because that’s what He did for you. Before you came to follow Him, He had already served you and gave His life so you could live. The ungrateful brat you were! Never acknowledging Him and expressing gratitude until you decided it was time. He served first. And so should you.
Do you want forgiveness? Then give it. Do you want gratitude? Then give it.
We are supposed to walk as He walked. Serving others without ever expecting anything in return. Expectations will destroy your life. Expectations fuel judgments.
Serve because that’s what you’re called to do. No other reason. No other motivation.
“You’re just an ordinary slave, you should only do your duty.’”