My thoughts behind service

Service has a lot of different meanings. It could mean a work service where you get paid for something you do, like a career. Service could mean helping a neighbor, a friend, family, whoever you desire to serve. Yet what is the motivation behind an act of service. In the case of a career, the person is being paid for something they can do that the person paying for the service cannot do. If you're helping out a neighbor, it seems logical to help those around you, you would want them to do the same for you. In the case of family and friends, you can't help but serve your family (they are blood, though there are exceptions); and you can't help but serve your friends, you wouldn't be friends with them if you didn't like them :P. So what is the true motivation behind service? Yeah we all help serve our community in some way, we all have our place, but what keeps us going? We all have this call to do something.
I would like to consider mine administration (that's what I'm good at). But I was thinking over this and what is my motivation behind serving. First my motivations were clearly to be seen by people, but I wasn't having any fun and I wasn't really helping anyone because I didn't make it relational, I made it purely "business". However, a turning point came into my life where I finally understood 1 Corinthians 13, to do everything out of love. For example, when I cook for people. I love to cook and I enjoy people saying how good my food is, but I enjoy more the fact that they don't have to cook their food and I love the conversations we have at the table, especially with my roommates, though random as they are. I don't get mad anymore that I'm doing all the work and they (not my roommates, but general public) don't do anything. My motivation behind service (after years of failure) is love, its building relationships. Of course, I probably don't understand the true meaning of love, but just remembering the cross and eventually being in heaven, will definitely show what love looks like, what God looks like. I just enjoy helping people, it gives me purpose, it gives me meaning. Yes I'll never see the lady that asked for food ever again, yes I'll sometimes be the only person in the "relationship" giving it my all, but when God receives me and tells me I'm His, it'll all be worth the money and time I used serving those around me.

Also, in one of my classes we were discussing the Trinity. What is the meaning behind "Let Us make man in Our image." Does it mean physically looking like him, mentally, emotionally? Or does it mean to have a relationship? God had a relationship within Himself, you can clearly see that He wanted a relationship with man and for man to have relationship with man. Is this what God desired? For us to only have relationships? Should this be our motivation behind service? For us to have a relationship with other people? Any thoughts?
I'm outs.