Welcome to today's encouragement from our daily bread.

I'm Bill Crowder, and I called our reading, Part of Service.

When my uncle Emery passed away, the tributes were many and varied, yet all those honors carried a consistent theme.

Emery showed his love for God by serving others.

Nowhere was this more exemplified than during his World War II military service where he served

as a corpsman, a medic who went into battle without a weapon.

He received high military honors for his bravery,

but Emery was most remembered for his compassionate service, both during and after the war.

Emory's selflessness lived out Paul's challenge to the Galatians. He wrote,

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.

But how?

In our brokenness, we're hardwired to put self first rather than others.

So where does this unnatural selflessness come from?

In Philippians 2 verse 5, Paul offers this encouragement. In your relationships with one another

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Paul describes Christ's willingness to even experience

death on a cross out of his great love for us.

Only as His Spirit produces the mind of Christ in us are we set apart and enabled to sacrifice for others,

reflecting the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made when he gave himself for us.

May we yield to the Spirit's work in us today.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Galatians chapter 5 verses 13 through

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