SpiritualFamily.Net

A How does loving service to others help us grow spiritually and become more like Jesus

According to the 5th Epochal Revelation loving service to others is central to spiritual growth and the path to becoming more like Jesus. It is the practical expression of the religion of Jesus—a living faith that manifests as unselfish devotion to God and the brotherhood of man. Jesus’ entire earthly life was one of unremitting, self-forgetful service to humankind, and following him means entering into that same spirit of loving service.

In Paper 137 (Tarrying Time in Galilee), during his sermon on the kingdom in the Capernaum synagogue, Jesus declares:

“In my Father’s kingdom there shall be neither Jew nor gentile, only those who seek perfection through service, for I declare that he who would be great in my Father’s kingdom must first become server of all. If you are willing to serve your fellows, you shall sit down with me in my kingdom, even as, by serving in the similitude of the creature, I shall presently sit down with my Father in his kingdom.”

The kingdom is a spiritual reality of righteousness, peace, and joy—not material or political. Entry and progress come through moral decisions, spirit victories, and progressive righteousness. Seeking perfection through service is how one grows in nobility of character like the Father’s and advances in the kingdom now and eternally. Service is not optional; it is the very measure of greatness and the means of ripening the kingdom’s fruits in the soul.

Loving Service as the Expression of the New Commandment

In Paper 180 (The Farewell Discourse), Jesus gives the new commandment: “That you love one another even as I have loved you.” He illustrates this through the parable of foot-washing, showing willingness to serve one another. This elevates the older command (“love your neighbor as yourself”) to a higher standard of greater acts of love in the believing brotherhood.

Loving service is not grim duty or sacrifice (which implies reluctance) but a joyful, friendship-based impulse. Jesus calls his followers friends, not servants, because true service flows from wholehearted affection. By this mutual loving service, others recognize them as his disciples. It brings new joy, helps them abide in him (like branches in the vine), bear much fruit, and experience the fullness of divine joy. Service thus becomes the tangible way to live out supreme love—laying down one’s life (priorities, comfort, ego) for friends and even strangers.

Becoming Like Jesus Through Unselfish Service

In Paper 196 (The Faith of Jesus), the revelation states:

To “follow Jesus” means to personally share his religious faith and to enter into the spirit of the Master’s life of unselfish service for man.

Jesus devoted his life wholly to doing the Father’s will through unreserved bestowal of love and unselfish service. He spent himself in service to the infinite worth of every individual, interpreting religion in terms of practical righteousness and the golden rule made vital. His faith was living and active, leading directly to service.To become more like him is to:

• Share his childlike yet courageous trust in the Father.
• Believe in the infinite worth of every person as he did.
• Live the religion of personal experience—doing God’s will through loving service to the human brotherhood—rather than merely believing about him.
• Consecrate one’s will to unselfish service as the highest expression of sonship with God.

Jesus did not emphasize his sinlessness but his righteousness expressed in loving service. His life demonstrates that true religion is devotion to meaningful values through active, unselfish ministry to others.

How Loving Service Fuels Spiritual Growth

Loving service advances spiritual growth in multiple interconnected ways:

• It manifests and multiplies the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.). Service is both the fruit and the cultivator of these divine qualities in the evolving soul.
• It overcomes selfishness, which hinders the Thought Adjuster’s work. Unselfish service shifts focus outward, spiritualizing the mind and fostering God-consciousness.
• It provides experiential growth for the soul. The morontia soul grows through choices and experiences; loving service to others—especially the “least of these”—is high-value experience that builds character, wisdom, and spiritual insight.
• It realizes the brotherhood of man in practice. Recognizing the Fatherhood of God naturally leads to serving one’s fellows as brothers and sisters (and even with fatherly affection, as taught in the Beatitudes).
• It aligns with doing the Father’s will. The doing of God’s will is sharing the inner life with God; loving service is the outward expression of that inner communion. It brings joy, peace, and the consciousness of the kingdom now.
• It leads to progressive perfection. As one serves, one seeks and attains greater perfection, mirroring Jesus’ own consecration and preparing for the eternal career of service in the ascension to Paradise.

Real religion, the papers teach, leads to “loving service-contact with his less illuminated fellows” as the overflow of the soul’s discovery of God. It is not passive belief but active, transformative living.

In summary, according to the Urantia Papers, loving service to others is not merely a good deed or ethical requirement—it is the dynamic heart of spiritual growth and the clearest way to become more like Jesus. By serving unselfishly, one seeks perfection in the kingdom, lives the new commandment, shares Jesus’ faith and life purpose, manifests divine fruits, and progressively transforms the inner self into greater alignment with the Father’s will. As Jesus taught and lived, the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all—and through such service, one finds the joy of sitting with him in his kingdom. This is the religion of Jesus in action: faith expressed as loving service.