"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." Philippians 2:3-4
My kids spend a lot of time together. Most of the time, they work out their disagreements and genuinely care about one another. But there are other times that I am startled at how easily they can tune one another out. For example, when my kids where little, my daughter who was 4, was playing teacher. She was, of course, in charge of her little brother and her cousin came over to play, directing them to sit down and read books or follow her as they lined up at the door.
Things were going well until our son, who is 3, tripped on something and stubbed his toe. He was rolling on the floor crying, holding his foot, and I heard our daughter tell her cousin, "Just keep walking; he will catch up with us later," and they both proceeded to walk away without giving it another thought. Our son was crying out on the floor, and the girls simply continued with their imaginary game of teacher.
Hear me out; I don't think the kids intentionally did anything wrong. No one pushed anyone or deliberately hurt another, but as I watched the scene unfold, I was surprised at how little care my girls had for my son. He, of course, was fine and did catch up and join back into the game, but as I stepped in to teach them a lesson on caring for others, God did something in me too.
I was explaining that we should care for one another, really homing in on how we should care more about how other people are feeling than getting what we want, and it hit me, how often do I do this? How often do I focus on my kids listening to me and forget to listen to how they feel or stop to consider what matters to them? How often do I justify that what I want matters the most? How often do I fixate on what I deserve? How often am I ME-focused? (A lot more than I would like to admit.)
I believe we are naturally selfish. We live in a consumerism culture about getting ahead and getting what we want. To do nothing out of selfish ambition is the exact opposite of how the world tells us to live. To care more about other people's interests than our interests is a foreign concept in a culture that promotes our happiness as the most valuable thing we can hold.
The kids weren't purposefully mean, but they certainly were putting their desires above how my son was feeling. In the same way, I may not be mean when I focus on making sure everything in my bubble is how I want it, but what about the people outside of my bubble? What about those with which I don't have as much in common or those I don't see eye to eye? Jesus didn't only love those who were easy to love, He didn't go to the cross out of selfish ambition, and He didn't focus on what was best for Him.
Just like I wanted the kids to care about how the other was feeling, Christ calls us to care about the way those around us are feeling. He challenges us to lay down our selfish desires and humbly step into one another's life, valuing them above ourselves. In what ways do you let your selfish desires take the driver's seat in your life? What would it look like to humbly value others that are different than yourself?
Prayer: Father God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for humbly laying down Your life so that I can fully live. Thank you for valuing me above Yourself. God give me eyes to see Your sons and daughters how You see them. Give me the courage to step out of what is most uncomplicated and most comfortable and genuinely love others because You first loved me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
