“Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
All of us need to pause and ask ourselves if we are selfish or selfless. I don't think any of us will find it easy to answer. It is difficult to overcome "self." It would amaze us if we could find a way to count the numbers of times that we think of self or do something selfish on a daily basis. It is something that we need to think about seriously. This is one of the points at which Jesus wants to change our lives. Praying and attempting to live selflessly is one of the most Christ like things that we can do. This is, after all, how Christ lived. He didn't think of Himself when He ministered tirelessly to the multitudes who were "like sheep without a shepherd." He didn't think of Himself when He continued to heal and minister to people after he had passed the point of exhaustion. He didn't think of Himself when He went to the cross. As a matter of fact, His first words from the cross were "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." The verses that follow our printed text tell us this about the matter: "5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. 6. Who, being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. 7. But made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Jesus certainly didn’t do this for selfish reasons. He did it to save us from sin. Christlikeness is not wearing our Christian faith on our sleeves. It is not talking in holy tones. It is doing something for others and not thinking about ourselves all of the time. Perhaps the most egregious kind of selfishness is to pretend to be interested in other people and their lives, and doing it in order to bring praise to ourselves. One of Jesus’ main problems with the Pharisees was that they did things that looked good, like giving alms for the poor, for the express purpose of adding to their own conceit. It is certainly not wrong if others notice our good works, but it is wrong if we serve for self-aggrandizement. In calling His followers the light of the world, Jesus said that we should let our “lights shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.” Another thing that we need to think about is that we should not always live to please ourselves. Don’t misunderstand what I am pointing out. It is not always wrong to do things for ourselves. For example, we need to look out for our health and be sure that we take care of ourselves. Also, there is nothing wrong with loving ourselves. In fact, it is healthy to have a good opinion of ourselves. The problem comes when we become preoccupied with ourselves and our love for ourselves turns into outright conceit. When we get to a point that all we think about is our own comfort, our own glory and our own image, we have gone beyond Christian love for ourselves. We should live so that we can feel good about ourselves, and that means not being selfish. One of the worst things about selfishness is that it is a poor witness for Jesus Christ. This can be said about churches as well as individual Christians. When churches turn in upon themselves and only serve the purposes of their own interests and when they become a closed family instead of an inviting fellowship, they have gone beyond where Christ would take them. A church should be a family, but it should be a family with open arms always willing to welcome people into the circle. Instead of turning our backs on the community, we should selflessly serve the community. It is not always easy to live selflessly, but it is always rewarding. We would be better people, better Christians, better neighbors and better church members if we would be selfless instead of selfish. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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