READ: Matthew 20:28
Jesus showed us that the most important life-giving, joy-producing, happiness-lasting lesson that we can learn in this life is “Life is not about you. Life is about loving and giving and sharing and serving God and others.” Jesus showed us life at His highest and best. He was a giver, not a taker. He was a servant. He was selfless, interruptible, and available. He saw a need and he met it. He lived unselfishly, and he died sacrificially. It was never about Him. It was always about you and me. It was about living, loving, giving, sharing, and caring for others. My experience after all these years of people watching is this: Most of our unhappiness and discontent as a human being comes from being preoccupied with ourselves. Life’s misery quotient is directly related to our self-centeredness, self-absorption, and selfishness. If you want to be miserable and unhappy, it is very easy. Just think life is about you. Put yourself at the center. The other side of the coin is the people I meet who have the greatest joy and happiness and the best perspective on life are people who give more than they take, who are servants, who understand that life is not about them and they are not at the center. They are trying to do life the Jesus way, serving and giving, sharing, and focusing not on themselves but on God and others. The best way to find the best in this life is to get over yourself. Get yourself out of the way today and start giving your life away to make life better for someone else. Then you will be doing what Jesus did.
Jesus showed us that the most important life-giving, joy-producing, happiness-lasting lesson that we can learn in this life is “Life is not about you. Life is about loving and giving and sharing and serving God and others.” Jesus showed us life at His highest and best. He was a giver, not a taker. He was a servant. He was selfless, interruptible, and available. He saw a need and he met it. He lived unselfishly, and he died sacrificially. It was never about Him. It was always about you and me. It was about living, loving, giving, sharing, and caring for others. My experience after all these years of people watching is this: Most of our unhappiness and discontent as a human being comes from being preoccupied with ourselves. Life’s misery quotient is directly related to our self-centeredness, self-absorption, and selfishness. If you want to be miserable and unhappy, it is very easy. Just think life is about you. Put yourself at the center. The other side of the coin is the people I meet who have the greatest joy and happiness and the best perspective on life are people who give more than they take, who are servants, who understand that life is not about them and they are not at the center. They are trying to do life the Jesus way, serving and giving, sharing, and focusing not on themselves but on God and others. The best way to find the best in this life is to get over yourself. Get yourself out of the way today and start giving your life away to make life better for someone else. Then you will be doing what Jesus did.
– Dr. Tim Thompson