A Selfless Heart

Selfishness is a huge destroyer. A person cannot be selfish and humble at the same time. It does not work that way. Selfishness is one of the major cankerworms destroying the fabric of relationships today. Phil.2:3 “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves”. Thinking of the other person as better than yourself does not mean you are not important. God’s Word is simply telling us to think of the other person as more important. 

Treat your wife or husband as more important than yourself. A practical expression of this would be, if you get home before your spouse and you discover that there is only piece of meat left in the stew, you leave it for the other person. Husbands, if you can do this for your wife, she will bless you, and you will be greatly rewarded. I am not saying this should be your sole objective for being unselfish. Your relationships are not a transaction. God says “consider the other person as better than yourself”. 

It is good to do things for each other but we are also doing it because that is what God requires of you and I. And because God and His Word is the focus, you find that it really has nothing to do with what the other person does or does not do. While preaching, a pastor noticed that a certain couple that would normally sit with their arms around each other in church had a seat in between them. And as God would have it, the pastor was preaching about 1Cor.13:4 “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud”. God worked on their hearts and by the time the pastor looked up the space between them was gone and they were holding each other again. The question is who moved - the man or the woman? I think that what matters most is not necessarily who moved, but that the space between them is gone. 

Prayer: Father, help me not to be selfish but rather be humble and think of others as better than myself. Help me to do the things You require of me, in Jesus Name. Amen!

A Selfless Heart

Selfishness is a huge destroyer. A person cannot be selfish and humble at the same time. It does not work that way. Selfishness is one of the major cankerworms destroying the fabric of relationships today. Phil. 2:3 says, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves”. Thinking of the other person as better than yourself does not mean you are not important. God’s Word is simply telling us to think of the other person as more important. 

Treat your wife or husband as more important than yourself. A practical expression of this would be, if you get home before your spouse and you discover that there is only piece of meat left in the stew, you leave it for the other person. Husbands, if you can do this for your wife, she will bless you, and you will be greatly rewarded. I am not saying this should be your sole objective for being unselfish. Your relationships are not a transaction. God says “consider the other person as better than yourself”. 

It is good to do things for each other but we are also doing it because that is what God requires of you and I. And because God and His Word is the focus, you find that it really has nothing to do with what the other person does or does not do. While preaching, a pastor noticed that a certain couple that would normally sit with their arms around each other in church had a seat in between them. And as God would have it, the pastor was preaching about 1 Cor. 13:4 - “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud”. God worked on their hearts and by the time the pastor looked up the space between them was gone and they were holding each other again. The question is who moved - the man or the woman? I think that what matters most is not necessarily who moved, but that the space between them is gone. 

Prayer: Father, help me not to be selfish but rather be humble and think of others as better than myself. Help me to do the things You require of me, in Jesus Name. Amen!