Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.
We live in a world that is "self" motivated. Everything to do with making ourselves feel good...I was a young teen during the "me" generation... I remember all the self help books about making yourself feel good...empower yourself....make yourself number #1.. "I feel good... You feel good.. I'm okay.. you're okay... I I I.. It's all about me me me me... God tells us to put others first... to lift up our brothers... so my question is how can we put others first in a "me/I" world?
If we are going to be completely honest... the opposite of "me motivated aka selfishness" is love... How can we love others when we are too busy worrying about ourselves? Unfortunately, selfishness is ingrained in all of us - we can see it in the way children act... Almost every sinful action is motivated by a selfish act. Lying, stealing, adultery, and abuse...
We are hypocrites when we point our finger at someone else's selfishness but won't admit our own selfish moments... Why do we have such low standards for ourselves but high ones for everyone else? The answer is we are selfish.... it's human nature... it is our burden to carry... but when we turn it around and honor God - what an awesome feeling we get.... When we put our interests, desires, and priorities behind others - we are blessed.. truly blessed.. God blesses those who follow His law... His standards...
Loving others and acting on behalf of others leads to inner joy. It really does! When you prioritize others - the result is something that cannot be duplicated by selfish acts... It's a feeling of joy, happiness, fulfillment, and calmness that God gives to those who truly demonstrate real unselfish love..
I am so happy to be a child of God! I am so happy to have the opportunity to please Him... to live for Him... to be blessed by Him...
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than ourselves
5 comments:
Amen!
I, too, am happy to be a child of God and resucued from that selfish lifestyle. God's kingdom is totally opposite. Good message! Have a great day.
A great post.
AliceE.
Wow Kelly, this is a great post. I have found not being me motivated is not so easy. I could recognize selfishness in myself but I couldn't make it stop. Then God showed me something. It was when I was able to experience this kind of love from Him that I could begin to give it out. That unselfish perfect love is the love of God and it really can not truly be given out except as an overflow from being filled up from His love for us. It was hard for me to understand at first that God actually loved me without expecting anything in return because I had always thought that was what God was all about, getting me to do the right thing and act the right way and love Him more than anything else. But, in reality if that was the case then He truly was not loving me then, He was loving Himself and wanting me to love Him too. That is not unselfish love. That is selfish love. I had the wrong idea of who God was. His motivation of loving me was me! Wow ! When I began to see this. It changed my life! I was able to just rest and relish in His unconditional love for me, and as I realized that it was not up to me to get God to love me more, He already did more than I could possible imagine, no matter what my attitude, behavior, or even my response to Him was, my love for Him intesified in a way that I can not even possible explain and my ability to love in this same way was empowered in me too. It is funny how sometimes we get it so backwards. I had always thought that God was waiting on me to get to the point in my life where I loved Him more than anything just because I knew I was supposed to, but all along all He really wanted was to love me. He knew if He could lavish me with His love long enough, I would begin to love Him more than anything else, as a result of Him, not a decision of mine. That was not His motivation, to get me to love Him back, because that would be selfish, but He is God and He knew His love would win my heart and it did! And it empowered me to show that love to others as well. And, it truly does bring inner joy, happiness, peace and fulfillment when I can love others just for the shear pleasure of doing so and expect nothing in return. Wow! It is so wonderful!
What a great reminder of what God's love can do in us!! Thanks for sharing this.
Christy
So true. This statement esp reverberates far and wide: "We are hypocrites when we point our finger at someone else's selfishness but won't admit our own selfish moments..." James 3:16 would agree with you! Good post. wb
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