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About
CFCFFL
Who
is the CFCFFL?
The
Movement for Restoration Our
Covenant
Our
Mission and Vision
Our Statement of philosophy
Our
Core Values
Family Ministries Kids
for Family and Life (KFL) Youth
for Family and Life (YFL)
Singles
for Family and Life (SFL)
Handmaids
for Family and Life (HFL)
Servants
for Family and Life (SvFL)
Wish
to JOIN?
The
highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity,
choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over
popularity.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for THERE IS
NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
-
Bishop Soc Villegas
25 July 2007
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<< Go
to "Servant Leadership" Menu...
ON SERVANT
LEADERSHIP
(Part 22)
August
10, 2011
Today’s reading: John 12:24-26
One of our Core Values is servant leadership. We are all
servants of God. He formed us as His servant from the womb (Is
49:5a), and we are servants through whom He shows His glory
(Is 49:3).
As servants of God, then we must follow Jesus. “Whoever
serves me must follow me” (Jn 12:26a). That means we should
go where Jesus goes, we should follow his lead, we should obey
the Father as he did, we should become like him in holiness,
we should exhibit the same zeal he has for the Kingdom. We
serve Jesus as his disciples, and in doing so, we are to deny
ourselves and carry our cross, just as he did.
One of the most significant ways by which Jesus served the
Father and us was to die for our sins on the cross. The
ultimate call to the Christian is to martyrdom, because when
you have given your very life, there is nothing more to give.
Life is a most precious gift to us by God. And Jesus came so
that we might have life and have it in abundance. We are to
enjoy life to the full as God intends. But here is the
paradox: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates
his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” (Jn
12:25). What does it mean?
If we love life with all its worldly pleasures and we indulge
ourselves, then we lose the true meaning of life, which is
given to us by God so we can serve and give generously of
ourselves, not counting the cost. If we focus on our life and
what we can get out of it, we inevitably lose the opportunity
to do what God intended for us to do with our life. If we love
our life, we may lose out on eternal life. On the other hand,
if we do not look to our own satisfaction and pleasures in
life, then we are able to live for God, to work at building
His kingdom on earth, and eventually entering into eternal
life in heaven, which is what God intends all along.
How does this translate to practical terms for a servant? To
hate our life in this world means:
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We
enjoy the good things God offers us in life, but we do not
over-indulge.
-
We
shun materialism and consumerism, acquiring only what we
truly need.
-
We
expend ourselves in serving God, giving generously of our
time, talent and treasure, to the point of “depriving”
ourselves.
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We
do not look to earthly rewards for our work, in fact
preferring to work in anonymity and without recognition.
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We
willingly suffer for the cause of Christ, and in fact
rejoice for the privilege.
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We
do not retaliate against those who attack us personally,
being unmindful of our reputation or honor in the eyes of
the world.
-
We
are willing to die for our faith.
Now
we in CFC-FFL are called to be an evangelistic and missionary
community. We are to work such that God’s “salvation may
reach to the ends of the earth.” (Is 49:6e). As servants, we
try to give whatever we can, ever mindful of how small and
weak we truly are, given the awesome divine work of God. We
are merely small grains of wheat. But it is when we die to
ourselves, when we hate our life in this world, that God can
use us to produce much fruit. “Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it
remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces
much fruit.” (Jn 12:24). And of course, if all of us live
this way, then the many grains of wheat that we are will
produce a vast harvest field that brings forth much fruit.
Jesus had to die in order that the fullness of his mission
would be achieved, in order that he might win salvation for
humankind. In the same way, if we are to be God’s
instruments in bringing salvation to the world, then we too
need to die. What does that mean?
-
We
crucify our old self with its sinful desires. “We know
that our old self was crucified with him, so that our
sinful body might be done away with, that we might no
longer be in slavery to sin.” (Rom 6:6).
-
We
allow Christ to live in us. “I have been crucified with
Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me”
(Gal 2:19b-20a).
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We
turn our whole life over to God, knowing Jesus purchased
us on the cross and now we belong to him. “Now those who
belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its
passions and desires.” (Gal 5:24).
-
We
look to death in Christ as gain rather than loss. “For
to me life is Christ, and death is gain.” (Phil 1:21).
-
We
look to our life as important simply as a gift by which we
serve God, especially in our work of evangelization.
“Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I
may finish my course and the ministry that I received from
the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the gospel of God’s
grace.” (Acts 20:24).
If
we hate our life in this world and if we die as the grain of
wheat falling to the ground, then we will produce much fruit.
Then we will experience the fullness of the strength of God in
our work. Then we will be “made glorious in the sight of the
Lord” (Is 49:5c). Then we will truly live out our calling
and charism of massive and worldwide evangelization.
And if we follow Jesus and serve him, we will ultimately be
there in heaven where he is, and the Father will welcome and
honor us. “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am,
there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever
serves me.” (Jn 12:26).
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