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Sports Spectrum Daily Devotional - Wednesday, November 21, 2018

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” — Galatians 5:13

Mindset of a Servant

After going 3-for-4 and scoring a run in Game 2 of the World Series, Red Sox outfielder and 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts could have gone to bed and rested up for Game 3. Instead, he and his cousin delivered hot meals to the homeless outside the Boston Public Library.

The gesture itself is incredible, but there’s more to the story. Betts’ actions were only publicized because former Red Sox player and current radio host Lou Merloni found out and tweeted about it. Without Merloni’s announcement, we probably would have never known what Betts and his cousin did. 

In everything we do, we should have a mindset of service. We are called to be like Christ, who made Himself nothing and took on the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:7). When we are doing this successfully, our decisions are driven by how we can honor God in loving others, not how it might help us personally. Of course, giving of ourselves can also provide benefits to us, such as the joy that comes from serving. 

The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but the motivation for our actions should come from wanting to spread God’s love. What impressed me most about what Mookie Betts did was the lack of publicity. He didn’t bring any attention to it at all, making it clear his priority was the people he was serving.

Our thought process should be the same, whether the entire world is watching or no one will ever know what we did. The mindset of a servant does not change based on the context of the situation.  

Joshua Doering

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