I hope that the past two weeks have been a time of reflection for you as you begin the journey of looking at your life through the eyes of the Bible….
….When we begin to see our life as “All” about others, it opens up the door for us to explore the freedom to be “Free”! Free in all aspects of life but also something as simple as knowing that we don’t have to be first in line, knocking others out of the way to get there. It is amazing that even at a gathering of God’s daughters, when food is put out how so many women make sure they get to the front of the line, even if it means knocking someone out of the way. A friend of mine and her daughter (who was 6 at the time) went to Texas for the Kenneth Copeland Ministries “Believers Voice of Victory” conference and what she experienced amazed her. In the morning people began to line up outside the locked doors, but once they opened, they literally almost knocked the people down who had opened the doors and ran like crazy so that they could sit up front. She said it was so bad that Kenneth Copeland addressed the situation, “There are more than enough seats for everyone so we don’t have to run and knock others out of the way.” Did they stop? No. Why? Because there were too many Believers that continued to think it was “All” about them.
If you need a visual on this, just watch your local news on Black Friday. The lead story will be one of people lining up in parking lots in the dark and cold to stand for hours to become a mob and run over each other (to save a buck) once the doors are opened. In past years, an employee was trampled to death as he tried to help a pregnant woman who had been knocked down. This is living proof of how very “selfish” our society is. I often wonder if the people in these crowds are only those who are not in the household of faith? I doubt that very seriously. So the other question is….how many of them are God’s children?
The current economic problems in the United States also stem from “selfishness”. We had a gambit of realtors, mortgage companies and banks who sold people houses when they knew they would not be able to keep them, yet they didn’t care. People no longer had to put down any money to purchase a house and then after about 2 years or so their mortgage would double and that would be the beginning of the end. And to top it off the banks resold these mortgages as investments to Wall Street. In all of this, there were people who made a lot of money and when it all fell apart, they got to keep it. It was the homeowner and Wall Street (investors and retirement funds) that felt the brunt of it. And then we started to have the trickle down effect. Banks were in trouble, wouldn’t lend money to businesses, businesses started to lay off employees, banks started foreclosures on the houses and the list goes on. This all came about because too many people were looking at what they could get for themselves and not caring about the end result for the families that could not really afford that house or the effect it would all have one day on our economy.
The “All” about me, syndrome is one that touches every aspect of your life, because “All” about me is “All” about self. It gives you a mindset of being “entitled” and “special” above others. But the more we strive to look like and live like Yeshua, the more we receive grace to let people be who they are without finding fault, judgment, and thinking we are better or could do better. “If it were me, I would...” The truth about “If it were me, I would…” is that you are not them! And until put into certain positions we don’t really know what we would do. We would like to think that our response would be as the Bible instructs us, but you really won’t know that for sure until it happens, (So that is also pride talking). As we begin to esteem others higher than ourselves, we forgo the route of judgment and instead find ourselves praying for them.
Walking in the freedom that comes when you decide that life is “All” about others doesn’t happen overnight and there will be obstacles to overcome. The biggest being other people. It could be the not so nice boss, the critical mother-in-law, your spouse, your ungrateful disobedient children, your thoughtless neighbors and their loud music, trash, noise and total disregard for others. The cashier with the nasty attitude, the person on their cell phone using profanity on a crowded bus, or one of the many other encounters you will have within your church family. But how else would we be able to grow if God didn’t use others to sharpen and sand us?
You will know there is change happening when you no longer feel the need to stand up for yourself and get your point across. Because when your life is “All” about God and His kingdom, then peoples opinions, attitudes, actions and petty little ways, have very little effect on how you respond to them. Life becomes an everyday practice of being the reflection of Christ and the example He left for us as to how we are to live on this earth.
One thing that is very important is that we have to establish what “kingdom” we belong too. I say that because many in the household of faith continue to operate in the world’s kingdom and its way of doing things. And that is half the problem for so many of us. We “must” establish in our hearts and minds, whose “kingdom” we belong too. And when you decide it is God’s “Kingdom” then it is time to start acting like it. How? By imitating the life of our Savior and living a life of “It’s All About Others!” and “It’s Not About Me!”
I pray that you have been encouraged to see that if you are not satisfied with how your life is as a Believer that you can make change. That you can have freedom in areas where you feel trapped or imprisoned by others. Life in the “Kingdom” of God is not an easy one, but it is so much more liberating then living life in the world and its standards. So I encourage you to pursue this freedom so that you may experience it for yourself.
If you've missed any of the other parts to “It’s Not About You”, please see February 3, 2010 & February 17, 2010.
Blessings,
Pat
I look forward to sharing with you again, Saturday, March 20th.
Monday's Blog: Sharon is up with "Women & Their Finances"
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