LIVING BEYOND SELF IN A SELFISH WORLD
I won’t tell you it’s as simple as ABC. No way, would I do that. But I can tell you that to live beyond self in a selfish world as ours means you admitting you are weak but you would try to get up and be strong to assist the other person who won’t try to get up because he is weak. (I call this the strong and the weak).”We who are strong ought to bear the frailties of the weak and not to please ourselves”.
It’s no news neither is it a secret that we live in a selfish world. The average man’s thought is all about “I”. The question of where? How? When? What? all revolves around him. It’s a no brainer that we should have such thoughts about ourself but when it’s all about “I” alone then it’s selfish
What is self and what does it mean to be selfish?
Self is a person’s essential being that distinguishes them from others, especially considered as the object of introspection or reflexive action.
Selfish means, of a person, action, or motive lacking consideration for other people; concerned chiefly with one’s own personal profit or pleasure.
Living beyond self in a selfish world simply means, giving unexpected and unexplainable love to those around you. It is feeding others first before one. Is it all about food for the belly? No. it is rendering a helping hand to others even when we need help. Very difficult for an ordinary man but for a Christian who is fortified by God’s grace, it should be possible for us to do this effortlessly.
Biblical illustrations
In Phil.2.3 msb, it states, “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”.
In this world and around us, the man next to you would do everything to have his way for himself but as for you, it’s the case of “others may but you cannot” because you must help others before you.
Also, Phil.2.4 msb, says, “Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage, forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand”.
Just make the choice. Do your best to live selflessly. Do you know that living beyond self, starts with a small sacrifice, and eventually it will become a lifestyle?
Dear pilgrim, fight the inner battle of “I” before others while you try to imagine what the world could be if everyone cared more about each other than themselves.
The Bible teaches us that one of the ways that we can be really happy, and I’ve discovered this, by the word and by some bits of experience in my few years so far, is to get your mind off of yourself and do as much as you can for other people. It could be tiresome at times but there is a sense of joy and contentment knowing you have not been selfish.
In Galatians 6, it says, “Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith”. So, if we break that down, it means to have your mind full of ways that you can be a blessing to other people. But in order to do that, we have to ask God to help us get “self” out of the way.
But am I insinuating that you become a people pleaser? No way would I infer that. It’s wrong and it’s sinful to please people and displease yourself. How? When you please people in the name of living beyond self, you end up displeasing yourself which might give way to grumbling and murmuring. Living beyond self is different. It’s a big, yet joyful task with great rewards though we shouldn’t put our minds to getting rewarded by anyone, especially not from the person or people we helped on anyway.
You can live a life of selflessness
Living beyond yourself in this selfish world and seeing the predicament of others bonds you together with them. There is no doubt that we all have unique problems and challenges. Everyone has their own fair share of issues bothering them. But this sort of service provides an opportunity to build stronger connections with other people if you actually try to understand them and what they are passing through. It is very hard to forget someone who made an effort to share your burden with you at a time when things were very difficult for you. People may forget what happened when everything was well with them, but in those few times when those people are in real need, they get to appreciate every little support or form of help that comes their way.
It’s easy to make excuses and say things like, “I do not have time, I have work to do, so I hardly notice what is happening around me.” Or “I also have my own problems to face and nobody helps me, why bother about another?” These kinds of excuses actually make a lot of sense because anyone reasoning logically can understand it. But we have to be honest enough with ourselves to know that those explanations cannot stop us from doing what we really want to do and should do!
It’s true we can’t be of assistance to everybody. The problems in this world are too much for one person to even attempt to handle. But if you can ease out the burden for only ONE person around you, you have changed the world. It doesn’t have to be just your family or very close friends because, for those people, we just have to always do what we can for them. But what about your neighbour or a stranger with who you have no ties? Have you for one second looked beyond yourself and your family to think of how you can make life easier for those people?
Those who take time to seek the good of others despite their own challenges are the ones I call world changers. They are champions as they are championing a cause. Are you ready to belong to this class? Then be ready to live beyond you by looking past your own issues and looking into the issues of another not as a busy body but as a problem solver.
In the book of Joshua, Joshua didn’t just want to get to the promised land but he had a goal to make his brethren the Israelites get to the promised land as well.
Are you opportune to lead? Don’t just lead, let people feel your impact. Make a difference in a good way. If you have just one positive difference, then make it now.
If you must live beyond self then look beyond the selfishness in you and the world you are saved to serve.
#The1Hesaved#
#Ritatoluwani#
#ReservoirofGodiswhoiam#
