March 20 2026

Friday March 20

Servant Leadership

Philippians 1:1

“Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.”

Welcome to Pastor’s Chat today. I’m very excited about today’s chat because we’re going to be talking about what I believe to be the real key to joy in the Christian life—the true joy in life itself. I believe we find the clue in the very first verse, where the apostle Paul, in his introduction to the letter he wrote to the Philippians, said, “Paul and Timothy.” He is referring to both himself and his son in the faith, who were ministering there at Philippi when the church was founded. He says, “bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.”

So the very first word he mentions is bondservants—bondservants of Jesus Christ. A slave to Jesus Christ. That is so important, because as you study through the Scripture, you find that every great leader was a servant leader. He did not put himself on a pedestal and say, “Look at me. God has made me special—more special than you—and you better listen to what I say or you’re in trouble.” Moses did have some conflict with people questioning his authority. But when God spoke about Moses, He would always say, “My servant Moses.” You read this in Numbers 12:7–8 and other passages in the Pentateuch.

Also, when God spoke of Abraham, the father of the Israelite nation—the father of our faith—we find in Genesis 26:24 that God referred to him as “My servant Abraham.” When God talked about Caleb in Numbers 14:24, He said, “My servant Caleb.” When speaking of King David, God would refer to him as “My servant David”. This is really important, because you find it mentioned so many times in the books of 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings and the Chronicles. David is referred to by God in this way some 13 times in the historical books.

It is also interesting to note that the apostle Peter, when he was speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer, called Him “Your holy servant Jesus.” That reminds me of what Jesus Himself said in Mark 10:44–45: “Whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus said, “I didn’t come to be served.” Remember, He is the Son of God. He is God in the flesh. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He is the One who sustains you and gives you the breath of life every second. Yet He says, “I didn’t come to be served, but I came to serve and to give My life a ransom.”

The Bible tells us in the book of 1 Peter 2:21, that Jesus set an example for us, and that we should follow in His steps. The great example He gives us is found even here in the book of Philippians, where the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 2:5-7, “Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”

Jesus in some of His last words to His disciples in the Gospel of John, said, “As the Father has sent Me, even so I also send you” (John 20:21). God did not send us to be big-shot preachers or big-shot people. He sent us to be servants—servants like His Son, Jesus Christ. “Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus.” One of the major issues we have today is that people think they’re entitled. They believe they have a right to a certain salary or a certain position because they worked for it. But I love what it says about Jesus in 2 Corinthians 8:9: “Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

That is the way we should live—a life focused on being a servant of Jesus Christ, and a servant to others, serving them. That is servant leadership, and it brings tremendous joy into your life as you serve and have the mind of Christ. I trust we will take these words to heart today and live as the Lord would have us to live.

Today, do you have the heart of a “servant leader”?

God bless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.