Today I will preach a little sermonette designed to prepare all of you for the God-given opportunity to serve a category of people that are generally rejected by today’s society and considered unimportant—Jesus would have included them among “the least of these.” The category of people to which I refer consists of men who have committed crimes, been imprisoned, served their time, and are attempting to re-enter private life. Most of them are felons…all of them are ex-cons! Jesus was not doubt referring to this category of people, along with others, when He said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40b, NIV). I want to begin this lesson by explaining that in order to effectively serve people you must make the intentional choice to love them! Paul made that fact abundantly clear when he wrote to the believers at Galatia, “Serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13b, NIV). Love is the source from which all authentic service flows! When God inspired Paul to write these words, He wasn’t making a suggestion. He was giving a command! God the Father set the example of service motivated by love when He served the entire human race—including ex-cons—by providing us with a Savior, simply because He loves us. Jesus explained it like this: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV). We are never more like Jesus than when we are serving others. In fact, when Jesus paused long enough to give a self-description of His life purpose, He said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28, NIV).