{"id":129,"date":"2025-01-27T01:29:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T01:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/?p=129"},"modified":"2025-02-16T20:05:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T20:05:05","slug":"the-greatest-is-the-least","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/2025\/01\/27\/the-greatest-is-the-least\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest is the Least"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The greatest person is the one with the most love, and the greatest love is demonstrated by serving more to those who love them, than they are served. In this way the greatest who rules is the least of the humble servants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This principle reflects the teachings of Jesus, who redefined greatness as rooted in love and humble service. Consider these key points supported by Scripture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Love as the Greatest Virtue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jesus taught that love is the highest commandment: <em>\u201cYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind\u2026 You shall love your neighbor as yourself\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 22:37-39).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Apostle Paul affirmed this: <em>\u201cAnd now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love\u201d<\/em> (1 Corinthians 13:13).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Greatness through Humility and Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jesus said, <em>\u201cWhoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave\u2014just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 20:26-28).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He also demonstrated this by washing His disciples&#8217; feet, saying, <em>\u201cI have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you\u201d<\/em> (John 13:14-15).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Greatest Love: Sacrificial Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jesus declared, <em>\u201cGreater love has no one than this: to lay down one\u2019s life for one\u2019s friends\u201d<\/em> (John 15:13).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>His sacrifice on the cross embodies the ultimate act of love and service, showing that true greatness lies in giving oneself for others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>In summary, the greatest person is the one who serves with the most love, putting others\u2019 needs above their own, as exemplified by Christ. This countercultural view of leadership and greatness transforms relationships and aligns with God\u2019s kingdom values.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The greatest person is the one with the most love, and the greatest love is demonstrated by serving more to those who love them, than they are served. In this way the greatest who rules is the least of the humble servants. This principle reflects the teachings of Jesus, who redefined greatness as rooted in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[76,77],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-greatest","tag-least"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":376,"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwilkinson.ca\/pillar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}