At the beginning of each new year, many of us make resolutions to make lifer altering changes in our lives. Those changes might be to lose weight, exercise more or to quit smoking. Some make resolutions to go back to school or find a better job. Today I want to challenge you to make a different kind of resolution. I challenge you to make this a year to serve others.
January 18, 2016 is National Day of Service. It has been designated as to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Originally known as Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr. day. In 1983 the United States Congress signed into law legislation designating the third Monday in January a national holiday in celebration of Dr. Kings efforts in fighting for and achieving racial equality in this country. However, it would take three more years before it would go into full effect in all fifty states.
For those who may less knowledgeable on who Dr. Martin Luther, King Jr. is, he was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. He was the catalyst for many of today's sweeping changes in laws that govern discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, physical disability, or age.
Because Dr. King was a man who believed that the best way for our communities to improve upon themselves was for people to band together and effect change by helping one another, in 2002 then President Bill Clinton, signed legislation into law designating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day as a day of service. Today, many schools, companies, churches and individuals in the community organize a variety of events in Dr. King's honor. The list of opportunities to serve are endless. You can serve by
Scripture:
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen 1 Peter 4:9-11New International Version (NIV)
Jackie Moore, Senior Managing Editor
2016