1-4 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4 – The Message)
We are all self-centered to a certain extent. We spend more time thinking about ourselves than thinking about others. We spend more time doing things to satisfy our personal wants and needs than giving up things to care and love. You may try very hard to please others or meet others’ expectations. But do you do it out of care and love? Or is it a way for you to escape from the feeling of guilt? Are you enjoying the feeling of being needed and significant? You are somebody if you can shed light in others’ lives. It is natural to be self-centered. And we do need to understand how to take care of ourselves before taking care of others. However, we do need to learn to put ourselves aside, so we can offer genuine love. This is against human nature. I believe majority of people do not naturally put aside their own personal needs and just focus on helping others to fulfill their needs. It may not come naturally but this does not mean it is impossible. The key to make this possible is that you have gotten something out of following Christ. Jesus‘ love has already made a difference in your life, the community of the Spirit means something to you, you have a heart and you care.
“Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.”
