Don't struggle overmuch with that title. No trick question or deep riddle grabs us today. A good servant is a good servant because Christ Jesus will make him so. Paul was confident that He who began the good work in Paul the apostle would finish His good work in Paul. (Philippians 1:6) To that end, as Jesus went to prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3), He sent the Holy Spirit to prepare us for our place.
Some of our actions and thoughts may not seem like those of a good servant of the Lord. The saints who lived before us struggled with that same problem. Perhaps the remainder of this life is left for us to figure out that our strength was not enough to save us and our strength is never enough to make us into the good servants even our standards call for in this life. Paul as the great teacher commissioned by Jesus to go to us Gentiles, summed it up quite well: "For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:22-24)
Justified freely - freed from sin to become good servants, and even the addition of our feeble efforts will not stop the good work of Christ in us. Yes, I believe that a Christ-one's efforts to improve the self are accepted as a sweet sacrifice by God. Certainly Jesus could do all without help from any of us, but I don't think He works that way. It isn't that He couldn't do it without us, it is the love of Christ that makes Him 'wouldn't' do it without us.
Have a lovely day in Christ Jesus!
Bucky
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