Saturday, April 14, 2007
Looking Beyond Yourself
This is a touchy subject for me....because well, um, I am selfish. I was born that way. I inherited a sinful nature from Adam and I seek my own way...I enjoy getting to do what I want to do...I enjoy seeking after the things that make me happy. I like for things to go the way I scheduled them...and I like for others to do what I want. I sound pretty bad, don't I? But, let us take a look at ourselves...aren't we all this way at times? Even as a Christian...knowing what all God has done for me and His abundant grace that has been given to me, I still seek to please myself. But, God(I love this phrase) did the ultimate goodness in allowing Christ's death to make a way for me to have His goodness. He made me no longer a slave to sin!!! We still must pursue God's goodness to be lived out in our lives.
It is only by God's grace that I can be anything other than my sinful state. My best deeds are from Him and I can't take credit for any of it. But, then because of my sinful nature, I want to take credit for the good I do. So, when I recognize something I have done that was from a giving heart, I thank God...that was from Him. When I see myself exhibiting patience with my children, I thank the Lord for that patience. When, I submit to my husband, I thank God for His Word that reminds me how to live. Everything we do that is right is because of Him...taking credit for it is a great injustice to the God of Glory...who deserves all glory for Himself. I can only boast in Christ.
How do we look beyond ourselves in the crazy self focused culture we live in?
1) We must focus our attention on the Lord--His attributes...His character...His love for us.
2) We must focus our attention on His Word...which is how we learn to do #1. It must be in our minds and hearts...our minds and hearts wander so quickly from God back to ourselves...we have to make it a focus or we will become self focused once again.
3) We must look at others...seek to meet other's needs...that would include first of all our families. I must desire to please my husband in all things. I need to seek His wisdom in every day decisions. I need to appreciate that God has made him the strong one in our marriage. I should respect and honor Him as the head of our home. I should tell him all of this often,too...to build him up in the Lord.
4) I must, also, meet the needs of my children and put their needs before my own. I should do what is best for them in the areas of educating them, disciplining and training them, providing for them, nurturing their hearts, and caring for their souls. This takes time. This takes diligence. This takes the focus off of me and onto others. Being a mother is a wonderful beautiful way for God to sanctify me! I must teach them about the Lord...everyday.
5) We must seek to help others and do goodness to everyone. Remember my post on kindness and goodness from Thursday? The right motives must be in place as well.
This is a lot to think about.
I want all of you to know that when I post on things like this, I am actually reminding myself of things I already know...I need to put aside myself and do what I know to be right. I really desire to do this.
Jerry Bridges has a wonderful quote at the end of his chapter on kindness and goodness from the book, *The Practice of Godliness*, which I think is so good. I relate this to my home...because it is in the ordinary events of my day that I have a choice to put aside my own desires of the flesh and seek to do good to others.
Remember that most opportunities for doing good come across the ordinary path of our day. Don't look for the spectacular; few people ever have the opportunity to pull a victim from the wreckage of a flaming automobile. All of us have the opportunity to administer the kind or encouraging word, to do the little, perhaps unseen, deed that makes life more pleasant for someone else.
Accept the cost of good deeds in time, thought, and effort. But remember that opportunities for doing good are not interruptions in God's plans for us, but part of that plan. We always have time to do what God wants us to do.
Acknowledge your need of His divine grace to enlarge your soul and enable you to look beyond yourself to the concerns and needs of those around you. Then come to His throne with confidence to receive the grace you need to grow in the fruit of kindness and goodness.
I am a stay at home mother to 4. I am very blessed to have a godly husband who loves the Lord and his family. I welcome the days of much needed grace,the times of sweet victories,and the tears of trials,knowing it is all for God's glory. I want my lifesong to sing to Him,the author and finisher of my faith. Soli Deo Gloria--To the Glory of God alone.
11 Comments:
Kim,
What a wonderful post. I needed to hear this today. I have to fight against selfishness that is always at my heels. Praise the Lord for his grace to fight that battle. Thank you for taking the time to write such a humbly worded post.
I enjoyed reading this, and it is true many times when I do a post similar it is God teaching ME =) Thank you for sharing.
This is so good, Kim. I guess we all have that struggle with selfishness, don't we? Thanks for this.
I love this: "remember that opportunities for doing good are not interruptions in God's plans for us, but part of that plan. We always have time to do what God wants us to do."
Wise words.
Thanks for sharing, Kim!
So true, Kim. I am always fighting my selfishness, not always successfully, either. I find that many times when I am doing good deeds, it is for the praise of myself, and not for the good of the other, or the praise of God. Sigh. So much to work on, isn't there? I guess that's why there is grace! :-)
So, true. I especially loved the quote at the end. Selfishness is a huge struggle for me. Thank you for this post.
So, so, so good, Kim! Thanks for the reminder....ahhhhh....selfish to the core : ( I feel like the Lord has been reminding me a lot lately about serving my kids.....selflessly!!! And this is just one more of the reminders. He's so kind!
I love this statement:
All of us have the opportunity to administer the kind or encouraging word, to do the little, perhaps unseen, deed that makes life more pleasant for someone else.
So true! Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you for your wonderful, uplifing message. Even if it is a reminder for your self. I enjoyed the thought on " We always have time to do what God wants us to do." What a sweet reminder for my self a daughter of God, who wants to do his will.
I have been realizing the immensity of my selfishness lately as I contemplate motherhood. I also wrote a little about as related to love recently. It is really neat to see how God brings things to mind from so many sources! I click on your blog today, and there is a post about exactly what I have been thinking about. =)
Great post Kim. That quote was really good too.
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