How to Break the Me-Culture with Service

She’s so sad; nothing brings her joy … He’s so self-absorbed; all he wants to do is play games …

This next generation—and many of their parents’ generation—struggles with the results of a selfie culture. Many factors play into our mental health crisis. But we have—for decades now—focused more and more on self-fulfillment, and now we’re seeing the consequences of being so self-centered.

The more we are told that our happiness depends on our own success and on paying attention to our own feelings, the more miserable we become.

The answer lies in the opposite direction. Instead of building ourselves up, we should be building up others. Instead of prioritizing ourselves, we prioritize others. Instead of fretting over our own wants, we attend to others’ needs.

We follow Jesus. We serve others.

But don’t act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. And if you want to be first, you must be the slave of the rest. The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.

Matthew 20:26–28 (CEV)

To break free from selfishness, we must choose to act differently from our wider culture. When we do so, we can lift our kids’ eyes up and out to see others.

We can start by praying. Ask the Lord to show you where you can serve as a family and where your children can use their gifts and grow in compassion. A good listener can sit with a lonely, elderly person to hear their stories. An aspiring baker can make treats that bring smiles. Active kids can invite kids with absentee parents to join a soccer game. Handy kids can pitch in with building projects. Shoppers might like putting together boxes of gifts for underprivileged children. The options are as endless as your family's interests and the world's needs.

To have more of the love, peace, and joy the Lord offers, we need more of the Lord in our life. To get that, we follow his example. We come to serve.

PRAY

God, please forgive us, as a culture, for being so self-centered. Please help our family break free from that. Show us how we can serve. Amen.

TIME TO TALK

Conversation starter for kids: Provides you with questions and prompts to facilitate a time of applicable discussion with children to lead them towards knowing God and His Word more deeply.

Question(s): What’s something we can do for other people this week?

KEEP IT GOING

Related passages: These additional verses will help parents expand their Scriptural knowledge and place on the armor of God’s Word to tackle each day. Swipe to read the passages today.

Matthew 23:11–12

Matthew 25:40

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Tonia Gutting wrote this devotional for the Hero Squad Program of the American Bible Society. Hero Squad provides complimentary faith-based resources to strengthen and encourage Military families through God’s Word. For more information or to enroll your Military family, check out our website. www.myherosquad.org.