Coach’s Corner
Warm Up
Read Philippians 2:3-5
Hey friends! We have learned much in our study of God’s game plan. To finish, we have one more action that God calls us to. Once we know how to love God, we are called to go out and love others.
You might think, “Okay, that is easy; I already love other people.” But let me ask you, how do you show your love for other people? (Take a few answers.)
It’s easy to say you love others, but sometimes it’s harder to show. Jesus showed us how much He loves us by dying on the cross for us. He didn’t just come to earth to tell us but demonstrated His love by serving us through dying on the cross.
When you serve someone, what are you doing?
That’s right, you are putting their needs above your own. Did you know that Jesus didn’t want to go to the cross? He asked God if there was any other way for His will to be done. But there wasn’t another way, and Jesus chose to serve us instead of Himself. That, to me, is showing us how much He loves us.
Workout
So, how do we learn how to put the needs of others above our own? Let’s see what the Scriptures say:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-5
That doesn’t sound like an easy thing to do, does it? How often do we put what others need and want above our own?
Has anyone heard of the story of the Good Samaritan? In Luke 10, Jesus gives us the story of a man who was injured and lying on the side of the road. Many people passed by him, including a priest, and didn’t stop to help the injured man. Then, a Samaritan man who was not obligated to stop and help had compassion on the man and stopped to help him. Not only did he help clean his wound and keep him safe, he paid for a room and food for days while the man healed.
Do you think the Samaritan man showed love to his neighbor?
Why do you think the priest didn’t stop to help?
The priest didn’t stop because he thought of his own needs before the needs of the injured man. He might have been running late, was tired, or just got done helping someone else and thought the next person would do it.
We are called to step in and serve others because when we do, we can show other people a glimpse into how God loves them. How special is that? We get to show people God’s love by serving them the way God does.
Through us, people can come to see the love of God! That is pretty cool.
Now, I want you to pick a partner, and each of you will share how you think you can serve the people in your life this week. Pick two people and tell your partner how you plan on showing God’s love to those people this week. (Give them about three minutes.)
Does anyone want to share?
Those are great! We can prepare how to serve the people we love, but we must also be ready to serve those we do not know, just like the good Sarmatian did. We do this by focusing our attention on God and letting Him show us who He needs us to serve that day.
Wrap-Up
- What’s the most challenging part about putting other’s needs above your own?
- Think of a time when you were served. How did it make you feel?
“Lord God, thank You for being our perfect example of showing love through serving others. Help us learn what it looks like to put the needs of others before our own. Show us how we can serve the people in our life and the people You bring into it. Amen.”