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Not About Me
By Celine Zoppelt
I was at a wedding last night, and the groom was so
moved by what was happening in his life, that he cried throughout the
vow exchange. I believe that at that moment he was envisioning that
this woman, standing before him, becoming his wife, would be the
answer to his deepest longings for peace, happiness, joy,
companionship, whatever. In truth, I'm sure their union will provide
much of what he longs for, which is basically a release from having to
live his life in loneliness. But there will come a time, when a good
marriage and deliverance from loneliness will no longer be the
conditions meeting his deepest needs. It will depend on him respecting
that which is outside of himSELF.
All relationships begin with the hope of satisfying our deep inner
longings. And that is good in that God created these longings in us
for Himself and also for a life bonded with others. But we achieve
that only when we respect that which is outside of ourselves. Just
what do I mean by that statement? It may be better understood with an
illustration of my own struggle with this issue. The concept of
respecting that which is outside of mySELF is almost contrary to what
it believed today. Unfortunately, our present life philosophy in this
day and age, in this country, is to float our own boats and to see to
our own needs. Seldom is self-sacrifice for the sake of others
considered a noble gesture. Many times it is even considered
ridiculous -- fanatic. Even those of us who are members of the body of
Christ are seldom able to let go of our own needs for the needs of
others.
We hang on to grudges, hurts, slights, and the need to be right,
instead of hanging on to the Word of God which says that love hardly
ever notices when wrong is done to it. (somewhere in I Cor. 13) Oh, we
notice wrongs done to us all right. Then we may spend years trying to
quell the bitterness that bubbles up in our thoughts and speech. It
may take years for us to look at that brother or sister without the
niggling thought running through our heads, "They have hurt me. They
don't deserve my friendship."
We deceive ourselves into thinking we don't know what God wants us to
do. While all the time we take God's directive and put it next to our
pride, and if our pride and self-preservation become wounded by it, we
quietly shelve God's directive away. We are so disobedient! We
constantly measure our capacity to obey God by whether or not we must
sacrifice our dignity, self-worth, and pride in doing so.
At the wedding I attended last night, I saw a couple who had once,
well maybe more than once, offended me by the things they said about
my husband and myself. I found I could not let go of my pride. I
wanted to shun them - to be cool towards them. At the reception, I
noticed they were standing around probably looking for someone to sit
with, someone they knew. I guess they didn't find anyone, so they left
early. Later on, I realized that I could have made them feel more
comfortable by inviting them to sit with us. But I didn't. I was more
concerned with my own comfort. I justified my attitude by saying to
myself that God doesn't want us to sit in the seat of scoffers or take
up companionship with those who slander. Like I haven't done the same
things myself. Like I haven't needed His forgiveness for such things
myself. What should I have done? If I had acted with integrity, I
would have tossed the wounds they inflicted on me over my shoulder,
and walked towards them with the heart attitude that God loves these
people, and wants to forgive them as much as He forgives me. I would
have treated them with the same respect that I would have liked to be
treated with.
But I chose not to respect something outside of mySELF - namely the
heart of God. I chose my pride, which can only send me to hell. God
forgive me - break me - help me to obey.
Humility is evident when someone cares more for others than
themselves. I can respect what you say because I don't think I have
ALL the knowledge there is. I can submit to your direction because you
may be hearing from God . I can forgive you because my sins may be
exceedingly worse than yours. I can obey because I am more interested
in God's wishes than mine. That is humility. The self has been
subjugated to the Spirit. The thoughts have come into captivity to the
Word of God. The feelings have been put into perspective with the
Heart of God. I am not all - He is. And only in realizing that He is
all, will I be part of His body.
If Jesus truly is the head of our hearts, then we can truly
function as His body. There can only be one head to a body - we
can not all preserve our heads as we join the body. The body can only
function properly if all the members take on the humility is requires
to obey that which is outside of themselves - Jesus - the Head - the
leader. Just what do we obey? How about the simple directive of Jesus
- "Love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole soul
and your whole mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."
That's a simple one to remember. Then there are all the "one another"
verses, i.e., "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving
each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Eph. 4:32
There are a lot of verses much like that one. "Esteeming each other
more highly than yourself."
Now that takes humility.
And it takes humility to function as a body - all parts being
subjected to the head for directions - looking not unto themselves,
but only unto the head. The parts of the body must be humble towards
each other and ultimately humble towards Jesus Himself, the head of
the body.
By respecting that which is outside of ourselves, God the Father, and
our brothers and sisters, we will be able to successfully form that
which even the rocks are crying out to see - the body of Christ.
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