For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all… 2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV

Why do you serve Christ? Yesterday we examined why Jesus would ever tell the disciples not to tell someone He was the Christ. We saw it was out of a concern that people accept Him out of choice whether than out of a sense of persuasion. Today, Paul helps us continue that thought process.

Paul contends that Christ’s love “compels us”. When I search for a definition of the word compel I find that it means to exert a strong, irresistible force. Christ’s love is a force that draws us into Him. The reason we serve Christ, therefore, is because of His love.

I look around the church today and I see a small group of people doing most of the work of the church. Some of those people seem to enjoy their work. Others, however, appear to serve out of a sense of obligation or grudgery. I’ve never seen the list, but it is almost as if someone is keeping track of how many things we can do in the church. While all these are good activities, Scripture says there is something for all of us to do. If every Christian were fulfilling his own role, we probably wouldn’t have so many burnt out Christians.

What’s the solution? I think we must begin to understand the origin of service. Service should not be a burden. It should be a privilege. We should serve not out of a sense of obligation, but out of the love we have in our heart for Christ. If we put this discussion into the context of the family, we don’t serve in our homes just because we have to (maybe sometimes), but instead we serve our loved ones because they are just that: loved ones. We love them and therefore we serve them.

Should our relationship with Christ be any less that that?

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