What the Bible Says About Serving Others

Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus Christ set the ultimate example of what it means to serve others. We look to his life to learn from him and follow his example. Every Christian is called to serve. This calling remains constant throughout our lives, even if the ways we serve change.

In the following Bible verses about serving others, we learn why and how God calls us to serve. Keep reading to learn more about living out our faith and investing in our communities through service.

Why We Serve

We love because he first loved us.

— 1 John 4:19, NIV

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

— Ephesians 2:10, NIV

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

— Acts 20:35, NIV

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. — Romans 7:6, NIV

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

— Romans 15:1, NIV

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

— Galatians 6:2, NIV

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

— Ephesians 4:28, NIV

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

— Mark 9:35, NIV

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

— 1 John 3:18, NIV

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

— James 2:14–17, NIV

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

— Galatians 6:9, NIV

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

— 1 Corinthians 9:19, ESV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.

— Romans 12:1, NIV

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”

— John 13:12–14, NIV

“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

— Matthew 20:28, NIV

Commands to Serve

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

— John 15:12–13, NIV

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

— Galatians 5:13, NIV

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

— 1 Peter 4:10, NIV

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

— Romans 12:9–13, NIV

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.

— Proverbs 3:27, NIV

“Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

— Matthew 5:42, NIV

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

— Luke 3:10–11, NIV

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

— 1 Thessalonians 5:11, NIV

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

— 1 John 3:18, ESV

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

— Philippians 2:4, ESV

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

— Ephesians 6:7–8, NIV

Outcomes of Serving

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

— Matthew 5:16, NIV

“The greatest among you will be your servant.”

— Matthew 23:11, NIV

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

— Luke 6:38, NIV

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

— 2 Chronicles 15:7, NIV

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

— Matthew 6:33, NIV

The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.

— Proverbs 22:9, NIV

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

— Proverbs 11:25, NIV

Serving God

But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

— 1 Samuel 12:24, NIV

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

— Hebrews 9:14, NIV

“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

— John 12:26, NIV

But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

— Joshua 22:5, NIV

And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

— 1 Chronicles 28:9, NIV

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

— Colossians 3:23–24, NIV

Serving God by Serving People in Poverty

At Compassion International, we have the honor of serving children who live in extreme poverty. We serve with the conviction that God knows each of these children personally and that he calls us to show our love for him in the way we love others.

The Scriptures listed below detail more of this conviction and why we are called to serve children in poverty.

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.

— Proverbs 19:17, NIV

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

— Hebrews 6:10, NIV

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

— Matthew 25:40, NIV

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

— Hebrews 13:16, NIV

“And if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

— Isaiah 58:10, NIV

“I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’”

— Deuteronomy 15:11b, ESV

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”

— Isaiah 1:17, NIV

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