To Serve and Protect

As a Christian, there are two commandments I try to live by: Love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength, and Love my neighbor as myself. Personally, I think both commands are ingrained in various forms in all valid religions, so this isn't really a Christianity-specific doctrine. Either way, I try to make sure I'm obeying those commands with everything I do in life.

So, what I'm pondering is this: How can we use our training to 1) love/serve God and 2) love/serve others? The first is slightly more subjective, so I'll leave that one to your own considerations. The second, however, I can do something about.

How does training in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu help me help others?

Probably the most obvious answer is that it equips me to protect myself (preserving my life so that I can continue to serve) and to protect others (no greater love has man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends). Protecting others is generally seen as a more noble cause, but both are worthy of respect. The same thing that causes us to want to preserve the lives of others is in us, meaning we are equally worthy of preservation. Learning effective ways to do either enables us to be of service to others in a life and death way.

The training itself teaches values that can help form you into a better person, someone more thoroughly equipped to go out and be a positive force in the world. Some of these values are humility, perseverance, cooperation, and confidence. Hopefully everyone is at least being exposed to these values wherever they are and whatever discipline they've absorbed into their lives. For me personally, the dojo has been a place to put into practice what I learn from Jesus and the church on how to live with others.

So, what I've got so far is protection of self and others and strong values. Both disciplines are present in Bujinkan and are shaping me into a person that will be of benefit to the world.

(Commence slight tangent.)
If I put the two aspects together, my first thought is "warrior." Not just a soldier and not just a virtuous person, but an active combination of the two. Perhaps the Bujinkan is teaching me how to be a warrior.

When I told my friend what I was writing about (being a warrior) she had some excellent insight into what it means. She said that being a warrior is in the mind, heart, and soul. You have to have the thoughts, the feelings, and the reasons to act. A warrior is not necessarily someone who does certain things or acts a certain way; it's who you are at your core.

What are your thoughts on how Bujinkan helps us serve one another? Or on what a warrior is?