Daily Success
Institute in Basic Life Principles

Command 34 : Be a Servant | Day 238

Use the Keys to a Person's Heart!

I scanned an area on the south side of Chicago until I saw what I was looking for--a group of about 25 teenagers near the river! It was a high-crime area, so when I approached them, they all stared at me and wondered what I wanted. I told them I wanted to draw a scenic chalk picture for them that would explain answers to life's three big questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? and Where am I going? They all expressed interest in this.

As I drew the picture and interacted with the group, I tried hard to learn and remember their names. At first, when I asked for a person's name, I was usually told a fictitious one and the group laughed. However, I paid close attention when someone called another person by his real name and began using it as well. Soon the entire group wanted to tell me not only their first names, but also their nicknames, which were a real challenge to remember! When I returned the following week, many of them surprised me by asking, "What is my name?" If I correctly remembered a name, I would receive a big smile, but when I was incorrect, there was disappointment.

When the heart of a person whom God is calling us to serve is "locked," we must use keys that will open his heart.

There are four simple but effective key ways I've found to show another person that you are genuinely interested in his life and to earn opportunities to serve him.

  1. Show a person's importance by learning and using his name. This is one of the keys I learned while working with teenagers. A person's own name is one of the most important words to him in any language.
  2. Ask precise questions. Questions should show interest without being "nosey." We can encourage people to talk about things they are interested in, such as asking a businessman: "How did you get started in your present work?"
  3. Listen with your heart, not just your mind. When we receive responses to our questions, we should ponder them and find in them the basis for asking additional questions. The religious teachers in the Temple marveled at the wisdom of 12-year-old Jesus because of the questions that He asked and His answers. (See Luke 2:46-47.)
  4. Discern needs and attitudes. When God allows us to discern the root problems a person is struggling with, we should then be prepared to provide precise answers to help him. There are four major areas of need that most people will experience at some point in their lives: marriage conflicts, teenage rebellion, financial pressures, and health problems. If we are able to share practical, lasting solutions in these four areas, we will have an ever-widening ministry.

In our journals this week, let's write down the names of the people whom God wants us to serve and then list the ways in which we are serving or will begin to serve them. As we choose to follow Christ's example by placing the needs of others ahead of our own needs, we will fulfill the purposes God has for our lives and achieve true greatness!

“... Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:26-27).

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Contributing writer: Bill Gothard