Others First

Luke 17:8 "But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'?"

The master tells the servant to prepare food and serve the master after a full day's work in the field and tending to the animals. The servant has both day and evening duties to fulfill before he can sit down and take care of his own needs. His first duty is to his master and all that he requires, then to himself. The expectations of a servant are to fulfill his duties faithfully and completely before he is allowed to have some "me-time."
As the bondservants of Christ we are expected to be faithful in all of our duties. We, too, have been given many tasks to fulfill in our daily Christian walk. We are to love and serve the Master and each other before we are free to take care of our own needs. The word of God is clear about this. The beauty of the Creator's design of life is that as we are faithful and serve other, we do not have to worry about our own needs, for unlike the selfish earthly master, our heavenly Master will give us the desires of our hearts. We needn't worry about meeting our own needs, for they will be met by the supernatural provisions of God. Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to us.
As we focus on kingdom business and not on our own needs, two miraculous changes will happen in us: first, we take our eyes off of ourselves and forget about all the worries and needs that seemed so urgent just a moment ago, and second, as we see the needs and despair of others, we change our perspectives on what is really important in our lives. This leads us to align our own desires with those of God and our selfishness turns to compassion. We give up selfish wants and gain loving compassion; what a deal! It is here where the peace and joy of the Lord enters our lives and we find fulfillment in our daily tasks. We serve a perfect Master who always blesses us more than He expects us to give.

Application
In order to become more others centered and gain compassion in my life, I will ask God to help me to stop grumbling and complaining when I am asked to serve others when I do not feel like it.