Set Me Free: Devotions From Time of Grace MinistrySample

SET ME FREE FROM MENTAL PRISONS: SELFISHNESS

I'll tell you what. I can certainly spot selfishness in other people a lot faster than I will admit it in myself. This should come as no surprise though. What is sin but being bent inward on MeMeMe? We are all born with a brain and spirit disease that is intensely interested in my comfort, my pleasure, my wishes, my agenda, my feelings, my appetites.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:3,4). I am convicted by those words. How far I have fallen short! How my own ego has kept me from fulfilling my calling as a servant working for his Master.

But my Master does not despise me, punish me, or throw me away. He patiently forgives me, puts me back on my feet, and calls me to selfless service over and over. Refreshed by his gospel love and thrilled by his personal example, I am inspired to find satisfaction in lifting up the people around me.

Does that sound like pious pie in the sky? Maybe. But I'm here to tell you that the times in my life when I am the happiest are not when I am getting stuff or bossing other people around. I have found that I am happiest when I am acting like Jesus, spending myself on behalf of someone else.