Called to Honor and Serve
February 25, 2026
“Jesus changes everything.” Those of us who have encountered his grace know this to be so, so true. While I first came to faith as a young kid, I have been blessed (though it didn’t feel like it at the time) by moments where I came to the end of myself, cried out to Jesus, and was met with his patience, love, and kindness, which led to repentance. These encounters and experiences are, for many of us, what grab the headlines of our stories of faith—and that’s good and beautiful. But as we have been walking through the book of Ephesians this year at CCS, one thing that has stood out to me has been that we are not simply called to moments of encounter with Jesus—we are called to follow him. To “walk in a manner worthy of the calling,” (Ephesians 4:1). So yes, Jesus changes everything: not just our circumstances, but our conduct as well.
Our theme for the upcoming month of March, coming from Ephesians 5:21–6:9, is “Called to Honor and Serve.” This passage and theme are, admittedly, a challenge for many in our culture. In these passages, Paul, through a series of examples, is talking about how followers of Jesus are to conduct themselves in relationships, particularly when authority is a factor. The examples themselves deserve more conversation than can be offered here, but Paul’s throughline is clear: As followers of Jesus, our relationships and how we see people must change. When we hold positions of authority, we should use it to bless and to support. When we are under authority, we are called to serve as unto the Lord. While our cultural situations may be different than Paul’s original readers, the calling is the same. Whether we have authority or are under it, we are to honor and serve those around us.
There is no more perfect example of this than Jesus himself. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross,” (Philippians 2:6–8, ESV). Jesus is fully God, possessing tremendous power and authority, and yet he humbles himself and becomes obedient to serve. Whatever situation you find yourself in today, the example of Jesus is for you and is worth following. Are you in authority? Follow his lead and use that authority to bless and to serve. Are you under authority? Honor those in authority and serve as unto the Lord. In either case, this will likely feel costly from time to time. In those cases as well, Jesus meets us knowing better than we do about the pain that can come along with serving others.
How might the culture of our community, churches, families, nation, and world change if we as followers of Jesus truly submitted to our calling to honor and serve? The good news is that we can all make a choice today, in this specific way, to begin to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling.” Who can you honor today? Who can you serve today?
May we be a community that honors and serves in a way that looks a lot like Jesus!
