As believers, God has given us spiritual gifts to be used
effectively in expanding His ministry on earth. One of
those gifts is being Service (Project Oriented) and when it
is effectively used, it will contribute to the Lord’s purpose.
CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Alert and sensitive to people around them who are in need
and has a desire to meet those needs.
– Receives greatest satisfaction in seeing those needs met.
– Has an excellent memory as to the likes and dislikes of
those whom they serve.
– Philippians 2:20
– 2 Timothy 4
2. Receives joy in serving others, especially when it
frees the person being served to do more important things.
– Does not serve just to keep busy.
– Grieves over a person they serve who is
wasting their time on unimportant things.
– Gives of themselves in order to help others to succeed
and receives a blessing in the gratitude expressed
by the person they helped to succeed.
3. Has a tendency to disregard personal health and comfort
in order to serve others.
– Gives of themselves untiringly
due to a desire to get a job done.
– 1 Timothy 5:23
4. Has a need for appreciation to confirm
that his or her service is necessary and satisfactory.
– They want to know that their time spent in service
is not wasted and that it is appreciated.
– Needs encouragement for motivation.
– 1 Corinthians 16:10-11
5. Has a strong desire to be with others
which provides more service opportunities.
– Acts 19 & 20 (Timothy is usually with someone)
– Acts 19:22
– Acts 20:4
6. They do not need to be in the spotlight, but do need
to know that their service is needed;
receives satisfaction from the fact that their service
has helped someone to succeed.
– Their love overcomes their inadequacies.
7. Has an enjoyment in short range projects, but a tendency
to become frustrated with long range responsibilities.
– Gets fulfillment in seeing a project completed.
– Will get the short range tasks completed.
8. Has a tendency to feel inadequate
and unqualified for spiritual leadership.
– May get frustrated and quit if given a task such
as teaching Sunday School, a Bible course, etc.
MISUNDERSTANDINGS:
1. Quickness in offering service:
– May appear to be too pushy.
2. Avoiding red tape:
– May exclude others from participating in a task
(“stand back, I’ll take care of this”).
3. Disregard for personal needs:
– May extend to their own family needs
(for example, a plumber’s house may have leaky faucets).
4. Eagerness in serving:
– May cause suspicion of self-advancement,
especially on the job.
Note: As soon as they have completed a project,
they have been satisfied and are ready to
tackle another project in order to gain
additional satisfaction.
5. May react to others who do not detect and meet obvious needs,
and, as a result, may be critical of them for talking about things
that need to be done, rather than getting to the task immediately.
6. Insisting to serve:
– May appear to be a rejection of being served.
Note: It is only because they are so highly motivated
to serve others and not that they resent being served.
7. Desire to sense sincere appreciation:
– May result in being hurt.
Note: Without compliments, they do not know how well
they are serving, and as a result, may get frustrated.
8. Quickness in meeting needs:
– May interfere with the spiritual lessons
that God is trying to teach those in need.
Note: They start meeting the need before
God is ready to have that need met.
Note: As a result, the need may be met for now,
but will re-appear later due to the premature
interference.
9. Meeting practical needs:
– May be judged as a lack of interest in spiritual matters.
Note: They may readily clean up a church kitchen,
but hesitate to lead in prayer, etc.
(their motivation is in the area of cleaning).
10. Stamina:
– May be interpreted as insensitivity or impatience
with others who are helping on a particular task.
11. Enjoyment in short range goals:
– May result in leadership frustration
and disorganization with long range goals.
12. Meeting others needs:
– May result in side-tracking an employer’s direction.
Note: While working, a fellow worker may get hurt,
so they let their job go and start helping the
injured employee in need;
The boss may want to know why they are behind
in their work, and to them, the explanation is
honest and logical “I saw a need and I met it”;
They may even expect a word of praise from the boss
after the explanation.
– The person with this gift may move from one need to another
without fulfilling the first, if the other need seems more urgent.
There are some distinct differences in the use and results
of this gift when a person is ‘walking in the Spirit’
versus ‘walking in the flesh’.
1. WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
Awareness (senses when a need arises).
1. WALKING IN THE FLESH
Unawareness & insensitive (doesn’t realize a need exists).
2. WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
Hospitality (interacts with others).
2. WALKING IN THE FLESH
Loneliness; isolation.
3. WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
Generosity (freely gives of themselves).
3. WALKING IN THE FLESH
Stinginess (“Let someone else do it, I’ve done enough”).
4. WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
Joyfulness (has a contagious spirit that encourages others).
4. WALKING IN THE FLESH
Self-pity (“No one appreciates all I’ve done”).
5. WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
Flexibility & adaptability (easily adjusts to pending needs).
5. WALKING IN THE FLESH
Rigid & resistant.
(“I’m going to do it my way in my own time,
don’t tell me how to do it”).
6. WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
Availability.
6. WALKING IN THE FLESH
Self-centeredness
(“It’s time I did something for myself”)
7. WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
Endurance; perseverance.
7. WALKING IN THE FLESH
Incompleteness (stops in the middle of completing a task;
“That’s it! I’m tired and I’m going home”)
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
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