Service Reboot: 22 Ways to Serve in 2022

Now is a great time to consider freshening up your worship to God through service.

I’m not here to talk about how your church service needs to change! That’s not any of my business!

But I would like to encourage you to consider how you are fulfilling this Scripture:

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Galatians 5:13 NLT

If you don’t like what Paul had to say, maybe you’d rather hear from Peter:

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

1 Peter 4:10

Or perhaps you’d like to hear from an Old Testament voice instead?

No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble.

Isaiah 58: 6-7, 10a

It seems that loving God involves serving others, am I right?

So, with the dawn of a new year upon us, I’d like to share 22 ways to serve in 2022.

You are certainly welcome to add all of these ideas to your yearly bucket list! But that might be a little overwhelming. Maybe you’d just like to become more aware of the opportunities that are around you and choose a few new ones to jump into.

Whatever your decision, I pray that you begin something new to refresh your heart of service toward those who have been created in the image of God.

Just a few things to keep in mind before we begin:

• God sent His only Son into the world for you–His love cost Him something! Our love and service for others should cost us something, as well. Our time, money, and resources are only ours to steward on God’s behalf. How will we manage them for Him?
• We serve others as worship to God. Serving in order to receive anything in return (including accolades) is not true service.
• Godly love is an action word, not an emotion. We love because He first loved us, not simply because we feel like it one day! Serving out of love for God and others follows the same rule. Don’t quit just because you don’t feel like following through.
• Your service is not required to be in a “church” arena. The world needs your light, and a great way to let it shine is by joining in with other organizations already doing the work.

Okay, here we go!

22 Ways to Serve in 2022

11 On-Your-Own Ideas

1. Offer to clean up an elderly neighbor’s yard, or clean out their gutters.
2. Walk around your neighborhood with a smile and a trash bag and clean up any litter you find.
3. Are you good at fixing things? Offer to fix things for neighbors that you’ve noticed haven’t been tended to. They may not have the resources or the know-how to get it done, but you may!
4. Get extra prepared before any severe weather events, then during and after the storm check in on your neighbors to see if they need anything.
5. Begin making one extra meal each week or month, then freeze it. You’ll have it on hand to share with someone if the need arises.
6. Adopt a single-parent family in your neighborhood. Deliver fun activity bags once a week or month for the kids, or provide food delivery gift cards for family nights.
7. Know someone who can’t get out and about? Give them a phone call! Hearing a live voice on the other end of the line can really make a difference in someone’s day.
8. Write a note of appreciation for someone once a week and mail it. Notes in the mailbox are getting few and far between.
9. Ask someone how you can pray for them, and do it! Make a note of what their needs are, and follow up to see how God is responding in their life.
10. Invite someone over for dinner and dessert.
11. Become a respite care provider for foster families or individuals caring for elderly parents.

11 Ways to Serve With Others

1. Volunteer at church in any capacity they have need–ushering, welcoming, nursery, children’s church, etc.
2. Volunteer at a local food bank or community kitchen to feed the food insecure.
3. Volunteer at a local diaper bank.
4. Volunteer at a nearby horse therapy center.
5. Volunteer at a local hospital.
6. Volunteer at a local senior center.
7. Volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center.
8. Volunteer at a group home.
9. Volunteer for a local organization that serves foster families.
10. Volunteer for a local disaster action team.
11. Volunteer for a local hospice program.

One final thought comes from Jesus, our ultimate example of how to live our lives: “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43b-45).

What’s your gut response to this post? Will you do anything about it?

What need calls out for a response from you? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

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This is my final post in my “Reboot” series. We’ve covered different ideas in previous posts for freshening up our essential spiritual disciplines, which you can visit here: