The word duty comes from the same root as the words due and debt, as in, what is owed; and the word service comes from the Latin word for slave.  So, to be dutiful in service is to consider our actions for others to be no different than what a slave owes his master.

However, you may have noticed that people today receive all manner of recognition and even compensation for service to others.  In fact, the list of major awards given for acts of service is lengthy and includes the Nobel Peace Prize (which comes with a $1 million award), the Carnegie Medal, the Hilton Prize, the Bob Hope Award, and many more. 

But did you know that these formal awards are largely a modern invention—a feature of the last 125 years or so?  Prior to the year 1900, it was not at all common to give or receive formal recognition to someone simply for performing acts of service to his fellow man. 

Now, to be fair, many of the recipients of these modern awards did not set out to win one as the motivation for their actions—though some have.  And consider what it says about us as a society and as a culture that we think it necessary and good to confer awards for service in the first place. 

For, as Augustine famously said, “[i]n doing what we ought we deserve no praise, because it is our duty.”  No certificates or ribbons, no cash, not even pats on the back.  Are you prepared to consider acts of service your duty, or are you still looking for a prize for doing what you ought to do?  Think about it…