Selfless Fulfillment

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.  Philippians 2:3-4

This year, my department did some volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.  It was a lot of lifting, hammering, and performing of laborious work, and after each day, you felt physically spent.  Not a typical day for someone who works in a call center.  However, there was something else that I felt after it was all was done; fulfilled.  It was not because of what I or the team of us had accomplished.  Rather, it was what we were doing in service to someone else.  In this case, it is another family.  What could be better than that?  The spirit within me was awakening, and yes, I felt humbled because I had an opportunity to spend a day out of work giving freely to someone where many do not have such liberties.

Giving of ourselves to God and to others is what we must do as Christians.  It is easy to see ourselves as focused on others.  However when we are caught up in our own lives, do we turn a blind eye to a person in need in lieu of our own ‘stuff?’  Reading Philippians 2, you get an idea of Paul’s heart for new followers of Christ becoming selfless, and he speaks of Christ’s example.  In verses 6-7, he says:

Though (Christ) was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.

He describes one of Christ’s many perfect selfless acts, which is what the life of Jesus should represent to us.  He could have just stayed in Heaven as God, but He chose to serve others as a sacrifice for all sins.  For this, we cannot ignore our own obligation to serve others.  It is woven into us, and is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

There is a reason for the saying ‘It is better to give than receive.’  While a worldly view obsesses over the ‘me’ or ‘selfie,’ we know of the righteous path taught by Jesus Christ, the master himself.  After washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus said, “And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15)  So the next time you feel down or depressed, do not fall into the trap of self-doubt and isolation.  Instead, find a way to give to another as Christ has given to us.  How will you respond when conflicted with the needs of you and another?  How can you challenge yourself to give more of yourself to others?  My prayer is that we selflessly give more of ourselves knowing in the end we will find the fulfillment that only a Christ centered life can give.  Amen.