My wife, Julia, dropped this little piece of wisdom on me the other day, “Diamonds don’t do dishes.”

I was doing the dishes at the time and stopped to chew on the value of her statement. Diamonds are not this girl’s best friend, a husband who helps is!

We like stuff. It’s neat, especially when it is new. You can get a dopamine rush when shopping for or receiving something. Have you ever viewed an “unboxing video”? They are everywhere. We like to share in the excitement even when it is not truly our own.

Stuff can be good, even necessary, but service is invaluable.

“Through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13a).

Husbands, serve your wives. Wives, serve your husbands. Christians, serve your brothers and sisters, and your community. Small acts of kindness go a long way.

Husbands are to dwell with their wives in an understanding way (1 Peter 3:7). Men must make an effort to understand what their wives need. In like fashion, Christians are to consider one another (Hebrews 10:24), that is we must give thought to how we can help stir each other up to love and good works. We consider each other when we weep and rejoice together (Romans 12:15), when we please not ourselves but our neighbor (Romans 15:1-2), when we help those who are caught in sin (Galatians 6:1), when we bear burdens that seem overwhelming (Galatians 6:2), and when we encourage each other and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Diamonds might sparkle and money might spend, but what service have you offered to another? Diamonds are not forever. They will outlast you, but one day all things will be dissolved (2 Peter 3:10-11). Serving others in the name of Christ is a currency that will not depreciate.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

The value we place on what we give and receive reveals the dwelling place of our hearts. If my heart is consumed by the physical, I am trusting in the transient.  By turning my gaze heavenward (Colossians 3:1ff), my life on earth produces real and lasting value.

The next time you are scrubbing the bathroom, folding laundry, calling a sick friend, cleaning the gutters, or getting your hands wet in the kitchen sink, remember that diamonds don’t do dishes, but servants do.

Lee Parish