Who is going to be first in the Kingdom? He who is last in the world will be first in the Kingdom. Here you have to be a servant — the lowest man on the totem pole. All the lies of the world tell us to look for what’s next? I see this, I want it. I see that, I want it. We’re always chasing something, with our eyes set on the person in front of us. We see people who have more money than us, a bigger house than us, nicer cars than us, and we want it. We don’t naturally see the people who have less than us — at least, we don’t pay attention.

It’s so rare to see people who we highly esteem acting as a servant. That’s why it was such a conundrum for the disciples to see Jesus washing feet. Why was the one who they were worshipping washing other people’s feet? Imagine if the president came into your home and you were trying to prepare a feast for him but he said to you, “No, no, no, let me cook you guys a meal. Sit down, watch TV, and let me cook.” Then he goes into the kitchen, takes his suit coat off to put on an apron, and starts to cook.

Essentially, that’s what God wants to happen! That’s what Jesus did for us.

When you take on the mode of a servant, it’s so radical. People will be watching you and wondering why. And the greater your platform, the more radical these actions will seem to others. For me that often means going to impoverished communities to spend time with young kids. I don’t want anything from them, I just want to spend time with them and get to know them. When people see me do something like that and then say, “Oh you don’t have to do that, you have a lot of other stuff you need to do,” my reply is, “Yes I do! I do have to do this. This is for the Kingdom!” I want these young kids to understand that there’s someone who is bigger than their situation. There’s someone who loves them unconditionally.

I love spending time with youth in impoverished areas because I know what it’s like to be in their shoes. I can relate to them. I want them to do better in school and be able to chase their dreams. But most importantly, I want them to find God and seek Him for themselves. No matter what they do after that — whether they stay in an impoverished area for the rest of their life or whether they have a rags to riches story — I know they’ll be OK because they have God with them.

It’s very easy for any of us to say, “God, when I have a little bit more, I’ll give more.” Or, “When I have more time, I’ll spend more time with others.” Or we might say, “When I get to know this person a little bit more, than I’ll share God’s message.” But God always needs people who will pray, people who will give, and people who will go. We have no excuse to not be doing one of those things, if not all three.

Find something you can be doing. Our lives were not meant to be lived for ourselves, we are to be constantly serving those around us.

— Demario Davis, New York Jets linebacker