Overcoming Three Barriers to Loving Service

In John 13:1-17 you'll find Jesus eating dinner with His disciples. In this passage I see three things that would tempt me to avoid serving others: Agendas: In verse 1 we see that Jesus 'knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.' He could have easily had His mind on other, more important things (like I usually do). Instead of thinking about Himself, however, He proceded to 'show them the full extent of His love' by taking on the role of a menial servant and washing His followers' feet. Unlike me, His agenda was one of humble, loving service. Adversaries: Verse 2 tells us that 'the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot ... to betray Jesus.' That seems like an open invitation to skip Judas' feet as He made His way around the table. Can you imagine washing the feet of the person who would soon betray you with a kiss? Not me! But, again (and thankfully), that's not what we see Jesus do. Arrogance: Jesus, we read in verse 3, 'knew that the Father had put all things under His power.' I don't know about you, but that would seem to exclude me from such dirty work. I'd order someone else to do it. But that wasn't the way Jesus lived. He used His power to serve. I'm afraid we use our power to avoid such service. John records the challenging words of Jesus in verses 12-17: "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. So, how can you follow the example of your Savior today? Who can you serve even though you don't have time (agenda); even though they don't deserve it after what they've done (adversary); even though you don't have to (arrogance)? Jesus says you'll be blessed if you do this - do you believe Him?