Whatever happened to “do unto others the way you want them to do unto you”?
As I look around it seems like our world has evolved into being very self-focused. It seems like there is an underlying way of thinking like, “what’s in it for me” or “how will I get my way” and “this is the way I want to do it” and “what am I going to get out of this” and “how will this affect me”.
Instead of giving we are taking. Instead of serving others first we are expecting others to serve us first. I don’t know if it is a matter that we are afraid of being left out and so it is the survival of the fittest; every person for themselves. Or, maybe we actually have swallowed the belief that if I don’t look out for myself then who will? (Forgetting that God wants to be in that equation).
It’s like we have become a community that behaves like a bucket of crabs. When crabs are caught they get placed alive in a bucket and just when one crab begins to get a hold on life and is just about to climb out of the bucket then another crab reaches up and grabs that one that is about to escape the bucket and pulls it back down to the bottom all in the effort of trying to save itself by using someone else as a stepping stone. The result is that no one escapes the bucket and experiences life to the fullest.
Or, maybe somewhere along the way we have held on to an idea that the resources and good things in life are like a pie that is split up into a whole bunch of little slices. Then everyone is out for themselves to get as much of the pie as possible before someone else gets my piece and the pie is all gone. All the while we completely misunderstand the way God has set up life. God designed from the beginning that He would be the ultimate unending source of life, provisions, prosperity and that everything we need in life would come from Him. God has not set up His resources as a pie but rather as a river that never runs out. With that in mind, you would begin to see that as a child of God there is ample resources of life that flow from God to you and that there is plenty to go around for everyone. Therefore, we are not found to be in competition with others but all we need to do is come to the river where there is plenty of provision for all.
Jesus, trying to help us get into a position in life where we can live a blessed life as we draw from God’s rivers of provision. Jesus taught us that “If you want to be first then choose to be last” and “if you want to be great then be a servant to others” and then He capped it off by teaching us that “it is more blessed to give than it is to receive”.
When you realize that God is the provider of ALL your life with your best interest at heart and that God will not withhold any good thing from you. Then you can begin to see yourself as well provided for by a Heavenly Father who loves you so much, even to the point of sacrificing His own Son for your sake.
Then your focus is no longer on yourself but on God and others. That is when you will experience the peace and prosperity of life as you live to serve others rather than yourself and as a result you position yourself next to the river of God’s provision. ……. a pastor’s heart.