it’s not about me! 1 Cor. 10:24

I was do doing discipleship with a new believer a few months ago. He asked me to clarify something he had read in the Purpose Driven Life. These words are found in Chapter 1:

“It’s not about you.

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose. The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point - ourselves…

You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose.”

As we discussed this chapter, I was floored to see that he was not only shocked by this radical view of life, but he had embraced it! He wondered if he was accurate to realign his life with these new priorities – God and others first, himself last.

I stammered in amazed delight – he had grasped a truth even I had not fully embraced. Life is not about me!

Look at the two greatest commandments: love God and love others (Matt. 22:37-40). Where am I in that equation? I am the subject – God and others are the object. I am the giver – not the receiver.

It is in this spirit Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:24: “Let no one seek his own good, but that of others.”

This is a command we wish children would obey! This is a command all of us must learn. However, practicing selflessness is in utter contradiction to our human nature!

Here are some burning questions:
1. Why do I find it so hard to set aside my feelings, hurts, and expectations?
2. What have I done recently to seek the good of someone else above myself?
3. How committed am I to putting others before myself?
4. What will I do this week to seek the good of someone above myself? (Come to class prepared to share what you did!)

In a Christian community,
I am last – others are first.