May 1, 2016

Put Others First

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. -- Philippians 2:3-4

It’s not about you. Really. It’s not. It’s not about me either. It’s about what we can do for others to show them the love of Jesus.

We forget that frequently. We get so caught up in our own agendas that we neglect even the simple things we can do for someone else.

Yesterday a woman spent much of her day in the Emergency Room for chest pain. Her husband of many years went to eat lunch. She asked him to stay in the hospital to eat. He insisted on crossing a busy highway to eat at a fast food restaurant.

So she lay in her hospital bed worrying until he returned. She was at times furious and other times scared. He put his own wishes before hers, adding stress to an already stressful situation.

Why? To prove he could. Is that why we sometimes do the things we do? Just to prove that we can? No matter who gets hurt, we’ve got to win.

What would happen if we followed Paul’s advice and put others first? How would the world look if we actually did what we say we believe?

It sure would be a lot easier to enter into traffic because other drivers would be willing to let us get in front of them. It would be nice to avoid the stampede to the serving line during church events.

It would be great to value someone else’s opinion above your own. Can you imagine actually having someone hear what you have to say before they formed an opinion and started talking? That would be awesome.

Or what if you gave your seat to someone else? I was appalled recently at a church event. There weren’t enough chairs for everyone. Children, and their parents, claimed seats while elderly members were forced to stand. It’s sad when we don’t see this courtesy in our own churches.

A sweet friend was so excited the other day. She was going through a drive thru line and the person in front of her paid for her meal. She, naturally, paid for the car behind her. But she was so excited. Why? Because someone did something thoughtful with no expectations of a reward.

Do you consider others before yourself? All of us fall short on this one. Maybe it’s time we started thinking about it and acting on Paul’s words a little more often.