I have a lawyer friend who has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Cases of human and religious rights. And he has come out victorious in those cases.

Now, my friend drove his car every time he went to the Supreme Court. But I never knew this friend to actually “thank” his car for getting him there for such a worthy cause. Amazing.

No…my friend didn’t need to thank his car. That vehicle was doing what it was designed to do. Get this lawyer where he needed to be when he needed to be there. That car was simply available and reliable…or faithful.

There are times on our spiritual journey and in leadership roles when we seek…expect… words of thanks from the Lord. They may not come. We are simply servants, available for His service. Faithful and reliable for His purpose and use. No thanks needed.

Jesus talked about our expectations for serving Him in Luke 17:

…does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’

Luke 17:9-10 NLT

That is not to say we should never show gratitude to others for what they do for the Lord. The Bible is clear on that point, too.

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. Hebrews 10:24 NLT

Solomon recognized the value of a kind word spoken at the right time to those around us in ministry.

Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. Proverbs 16:24 NLT

We should not expect thanks for doing what is expected of us. But we should be willing to freely and sincerely give thanks to fellow servants of the Lord. And we should acknowledge the privilege we have to be servants of the Lord Jesus. As the Psalmist put it:

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 136:1 NLT

Now…I want to give thanks to a faithful servant in our MEDIA Alliance family. Kyle Gilbert has served the ministry for over five years as our Vice President for Communication and now as the Chief Operating Officer. I’ve asked Kyle to step in periodically to share some of his thoughts and God’s wisdom through these Monday MEMOs.

Note from Kyle:

I love Ron Harris, and getting to work with him at MEDIA Alliance for the past five years, traveling with him, and learning from his leadership has been a highlight of my life. Thank you, Ron, for being a mentor and friend to me. And thanks for letting me be a part of the Monday MEMO moving forward. I’m usually the one that sets up these devotionals to go out, and I sit at the video switcher as we record the video format, but this will be a fun new opportunity. Thank you!

Thanks, Kyle. And thanks to you for faithfully serving as the Lord leads you.

God’s best,