I have noticed a disturbing trend in our society today, it seems that people are engulfed in self-care like I’ve never seen before. Self-love drives many to spend countless hours and resources on “taking care of number one” and “me time”. These phrases are often tossed around, not just in the world, but also in the church.
But didn’t Jesus teach us to die to ourselves and put others first?
In Matthew 5:14, Jesus answers this question by explaining what our calling is on this earth. “Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus’ heart is for others in this world to give glory to God. I believe that when unbelievers see the light of Jesus in and through us, something will go off in their hearts that causes them to thank God!
Last fall I had the chance to take a mission team of college students to Seoul, South Korea. Each morning as we traveled from our hostel to the children’s home where we were serving, we walked through a beautiful park filled with Koreans. On our last day there, we sat together on benches in this park to have a morning devotional. As we got up to leave, a Korean man who spoke English approached us. He had seen us walking through the park the last few days and wanted to know why we were so happy in contrast to the Koreans he saw who looked so sad. Without hesitation, we replied that it was Jesus who made the difference in us! After a few minutes of talking, he told us he was Buddhist and that he had never seen people so happy and full of joy before. We asked if we could pray for him, and he said yes. He was moved to tears! We could all see the Holy Spirit working in him, causing him to give glory to God in that moment. What a testimony of the people of God letting their light shine and then witnessing others giving glory to God.
When we move the focus from ourselves to those around us, we experience Jesus on a deeper level because that’s his very heart. Over the course of my life, I have noticed that one great way to measure my spiritual health at any given time is to take a good hard look at my concern for the others around me. Am I being me-focused or others-focused?
This week, I encourage you to do one thing for someone else around you that will really bless them, you won’t regret it, I promise!