BEING SELFLESS

Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV) “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

How many of you are selfish? I am. I am not selfish all the time naturally, but when push comes to shove, my tendency is to be selfish or tend to my own best interests rather than the interests of others. I strive to be selfless, but it is extremely difficult. For many of us, we feel we are getting the short end of the stick from time to time. Perhaps you think you are getting the short end ALL the time. It is only natural to want to take advantage of every opportunity to better your own position in life. However, that is not what God desires us to be like.

God created us. He knows us … intimately … dare I say, better then we know ourselves. It is a daunting thing to think that there is nothing we could ever think, say or do that God isn’t aware of. He knows us so well that He knows what we will think, say or do before we think, say or do it. He is Omniscient. He knows all things. To NOT know all things would make Him less than who He is. To NOT know all things would make Him imperfect.

So let’s get to the crux of the matter. In Philippians, Paul instructs us to do nothing selfishly or out of vanity. We are to be humble in all things. Just as we are told to treat others as we would like to be treated, here we are told to value others above yourselves. Do you have any idea how hard that is? I do. Out of apparent self preservation we tend to our own interests at the expense of others many times. As if God were not going to meet our needs. The truth of the matter is that God may not meet our needs WHEN we want them met or HOW we want them met, so we have the human tendency to take matters into our own hands … try to MAKE something happen. Yeah, how’s that working out for ya? In the majority of cases, not very good. I certainly know that from personal experience far more times than I would care to admit.

Selflessness is something we must strive for. We must ask God to infuse us with humility and compassion for our fellow man. I do it all the time. As much as I strive to be like Christ, it is amazing to me how often I fall flat on my face. And that isn’t God’s fault. I have gotten in the way of God by allowing my old man to take over for a brief time. Needless to say I am grateful for His patience and long-suffering, for He needs it with me. How about you? Are you all you can be in Christ? Are you allowing His Holy Spirit to have His way with you and in you? It can be painful, but in the end, just like a local clothier puts it, “you’ll like the way you look”.

WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!