What do members of the Hand mean when they say "To serve life itself"

Question

On numerous occasions members of the Hand pronounce these arc words, which seem to be their motto. This feels out of character for me, because from what was shown of their character in the Defenders, they appear to be self-centered, if not egotistical, their main concern being prolonging their own life. Them serving some different, 'higher' cause puzzles me.

Is that meant to be taken ironically, since they are 'serving' for the sake their own lives? Or is there a possibility that their organization has got a different purpose?

Answer 1

When the Hand talks about serving "life" they're not talking about the lives of all the people on Earth, or any lofty goal of improving life for the world. Rather, they mean explicitly they are serving "life" as opposed to "death".

The goal of the Hand is to be immortal. They want to conquer death -- to never die -- to live forever. They believe that by conquering K'un Lun and gaining access to the power there, particularly the

dragons and their bones

they can defeat death forever. In that way, in their minds, they are "serving life itself."

Answer 2

That means they had an oath to serve their life for the hand. Everything they do will be for the hand. Hand will be their religion, purpose and duty. Being able to resurrect from the dead, members of hand are bound to work for hand in every life they've been given from the hand. may be they owe the given life to hand.