Define “Selfish”

How can you tell if someone is being Selfish?

You’d probably look for signs of Greed right?

Someone who’s Greedy is definitely being Selfish

Pride also might come to mind

Someone who’s Prideful needs to work on the Selfishness in their life

Now how can you tell if someone is being Selfless?

You’d probably look to see how much a person cares for others

Being Caring is a quality that can help fight Selfishness

Compassion is another useful quality

If you want to be selfless, you certainly need compassion

These are great things to have, but is that all God wants?

God desires us to be like Him

Ever striving to be like Him

Ephesians 5:3 says it best

Among you there must not be even a hint of greed because this is improper to God

Not even a hint

You know what that means?

It means that with everything we do we should be asking

“Am I doing this for me?”

Before every single action we should ask ourselves

“How is this affecting others?”

God says multiple times in His word

“Love your neighbor as yourself”

And the most amazing part of that command is that when we do that

He takes care of the rest

You know the emptiness that we can feel

He doesn’t just fill it

He brings us to a point where we can’t hold it in anymore

The joy spills over and out of us to others

Once life isn’t about us

God can use us to affect others

 Then bringing them joy can bring us joy

But this joy starts by Defining selfishness in our lives

We have to find it and get rid of it

And then prevent any selfish desire that wants to run our lives

We must make sure we are right with God

He’ll take care of the needs of those who are right with Him

We need to define the selfishness in our lives and then snuff it out

We rely on God for what we need and live for others

He’s bigger and more powerful than we could every imagine

Let’s live for Him today!

From Interesting to Amazing

We all want to be loved; everyone knows that

But this desire to be loved is too often put above the necessity to love others

As humans, it’s hard for us to see worth in ourselves if it is not given to us by someone else

This leaves us in an interesting situation

If those around us don’t take an interest in us, then our self-worth suddenly starts to disappear

Naturally, when people’s self-worth starts to disappear, their interests start to disappear with it

They close up, they shut down, and they become negative

Hmmm…..  That’s interesting

So inside of every person is an overpowering desire to be loved

This need to be loved can overtake common sense

It’s because this need to be loved drives our inner being

If we don’t feel loved, we instead feel empty

If we don’t feel loved, we begin to lose feeling

If we don’t feel loved where we are, we go and find love somewhere else

The Bible says in John 4:8 that “God is Love”

So, if we want love, then He is all that we really need

Although, loving others fully and relying on God to fill us is not easy

A love for oneself has a tendency to develop

And although it is good to love yourself to a point

God doesn’t want us to rely on the love we can give ourselves

That kind of love is empty

He wants us to rely on the love that He gives and let that love flow out to other people

Then everyone is receiving love from God and from other people

An endless supply of joy streaming down from heaven and flowing out of us to each other

It would be awesome

It’s interesting how when we put ourselves last God puts us first

Matthew 20:16 says “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

He makes the answer so plain and obvious

We just need to take hold of the truth, His truth

Except it, and know that it’s God’s way

I hope you found this thought interesting

It’s amazing how God fills us when we put ourselves last

He never fails us when we give all our love to Him

We just have to make sure we let the love that He gives us flow out to others

It would go from an interesting thought to an amazing reality

No Different?

When I was young, I was frustrated that I wasn’t like everyone else

I had a brain injury, and my disabilities always got in the way

My reading speed was slower

My writing speed was slower

I couldn’t run as fast, jump as high, or compete in athletics

I was frustrated by my inabilities

But my Mom would always say “You’re no different!”

No Different?

I sure feel different

If I’m no different, than why am I not on sports teams?

If I’m no different, then why am I not able to think as fast?

And what’s with this limp I have that makes everyone stare at me?

Anyone who looks at me can obviously see that I'm different

So, unfortunately, I grew up knowing deep down that I was indeed different

And, in my mind, being different was bad

Being different made me weak

Being different made me slow

Being different made me less than everyone else

My goal then became to be “no different”

I am now %100 sure that I am different

But I’m also %100 sure that I am the same

It comes from being %100 sure that God doesn’t make mistakes

God made me the way I am

Just like God made everyone else the way they are

But I was looking at my disability as something God was taking away from me

And although He did make me different in that I couldn’t do some things

It was so that He could show me the things that He made me to do

That is the way that we are all the same

God has made everyone with a purpose

I’ve learned to strive towards that purpose

God already has one of everybody else

We should all desire to fulfill the plan that God has for us

And the only way we find that out is by trying to be like Him

So draw close to Him

He has the plan

We are all different

But we all need His guidance

He’ll show you why He’s made you

Different!

Truly Transformed

Every morning I get up and pray that God would be with me through the day

But throughout each day I live my own way and totally forget about what I prayed that morning

God made everything and is in control of everything right?

So why am I not doing what I set out to do?

I truly believe that God is beyond word

More in control than we can fathom

And if we would only come to a point of total surrender to Him,

 We can be used in ways that are beyond anything we can possibly imagine

We can be Truly Transformed

I could go on and on with what I think could be possible

But the possibilities are irrelevant unless we can defeat our own sinful pride

It’s an interesting thing to think about isn’t it?

As far as I know, I am the thing that is keeping God from moving mountains with my life

 I am the thing that is stopping me in my quest to find what God wants for me

I am keeping myself from becoming Truly Transformed

Somehow we have to charge forward, but totally fall back

We need to put ourselves last, but at the same time stand out

We must hold tight to what we can’t see and trust that we will be kept safe

Becoming Truly Transformed sounds like a great idea

But it takes more than we have

We are only able to be part of the transformation process

We can’t do it on our own

Doing our part is very important, but we must focus more on how we rely on God

John 3:30 says “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

He is the one that transforms us

Continuous focus on Him is how it’s done

He is the beginning and the end

It’s something I’m still working on

And I have a feeling I’ll be working on it until Christ takes me Home

God is still molding me into what He wants me to be

So I’ll keep my eyes open and allow God to show me what He wants me to see

I will do my best to keep learning, growing and following until I reach that place where I will be

Truly Transformed

You

I know if I want to get, to where You want me to be

My life must be about You, and not about me

You’ve shown me great joy, that’s only found through You

I can’t even count the struggles, that You’ve pulled me through

And when I choose to live for me, I’m empty inside

I feel lonely and guilty; feelings that shatter my pride

Which brings me back to square one, where I turn back to You

Broken and humbled, seeking what You want me to do

God I’m at the end, there’s no other way

I need to live for You, every second of every day

Give me protection from the distractions that try to cloud my view

Help me to see how dangerous they are, because they’re pulling me away from You

You’re the only thing that matters, everything else is obsolete

Help me to weed out what’s holding me back, and lay it at your feet

Because when it all comes down to it, there’s nothing besides You

Guide me in Your will, for it’s all about You

Something Different

It seems that I’m always looking for something different

Yet something that stays the same

Something that doesn’t change

Because there are too many things in this world that change unexpectedly

I’m tired of finding the same holes in everything I try

I need something that supplies joy for longer than the moment

Something that doesn’t leave me hanging in life’s tragedies

Something real that doesn’t leave me feeling totally alone

Something different

I’m willing to change

But I need reassurance that I won’t fall back on my face

There’s too much pain that comes with all my attempts at happiness

None of which have worked out

Everything that I try leaves me stranded

I always end up feeling empty

I always end up feeling alone

I need something that I can depend on

I need something different

The answer could be money, but I know that money doesn’t bring happiness

The answer could be friends, but I’ve had friends that let me down

The answer could be possessions, but I’ve tried all that before

I need something different

But I heard about something, or should I say Someone, that I hadn’t heard about before

Someone that’s supposed to be the Savior of the world

If there is such a thing

But I’ve tried everything else

Nothing seems to last

Maybe this is the answer

I’ve heard that all I have to do is ask and He’ll “come into my heart”

And he’ll be a friend that will always be with me

It just seems hard to believe

But wouldn’t that be cool if that was the answer

To have a friend to turn to through all of life’s struggles

To have this emptiness filled with something real

To find love and hope when I feel alone and hopeless

Wouldn’t that be awesome?!

This needs to work because I’m at the end of my rope

It seems to work for some others

Could this be the difference maker?

Could Jesus be the answer?

I just don’t want to get hurt again

I’ve taken chances on other things

But this feels different

This feels safer

I’ve never really tried this before

I think I’m ready

I think I’m ready to try for something different

To see if I can find meaning in the struggles of life

To see if Jesus could be the one I’ve been looking for all along

To let Jesus become the center of my life

To let Jesus be

Something different

Every Day

I don’t ever want to go a day, without praising Your name

Every day when I wake up, Your promises stay the same

It doesn’t matter where I am, every single place I go

If I’m truly searcher for Your will, I have the opportunity to grow

I want to pray every day, that You’d help me understand

Though troubles may come my way, my life is in your hand

And whatever the circumstance may be, may I always live for You

May I settle for nothing less, than all I can give to You