February 19 ~ Philippians 2:1-4
If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I was listening to a segment on NBC’s The TODAY show about sticky social situations. A woman wrote in and said that she and her husband live in Vermont - where it snows a lot, of course. Every time it snows, this woman’s husband blows off the driveway of an elderly neighbor when he cleans his own driveway. The neighbor has never acknowledged that the man does this… never thanked him… nothing. And he has been doing this for years. The wife asked, “How does he stop?” The panel had several suggestions, including asking the woman if she would like for him to continue – or had she made other arrangements… the wife telling her in private that it would be nice if she spoke to the husband about this once in a while and expressed gratitude… and my favorite – keep blowing off the driveway and say nothing!
When I read this scripture passage, I was reminded of the question on this television segment. The whole purpose in clearing the elderly woman’s driveway should not be to get a “thank you” or to be a hero in any way. In life, there will be a lot of things that we do for others that are never acknowledged or don’t appear to be appreciated. But this is not the point! We should be willing to put ourselves aside… to forget about our own gratification and accolades long enough to help others.
There will be a lot of “thankless jobs” in life. If you are truly serving God in doing them, you won’t care. Stop and think about your own life. Where have you made certain things about you that should really be about God? Where are you acting out of selfishness, jealousy, or an obsession with gaining your own advantage? Have you really gotten anything out of your pursuit of a life in Christ? Is your mission truly to be more like Him and to share His love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness with others… or are you more interested in what you He can do for you?
Go back and read this again… if you have really gotten anything out of your journey with Christ, you will pay it forward. If you are more concerned with what’s in it for you than what you can give, maybe it’s time to take a breather and fully examine your discipleship and your commitment. If you are waiting for the elderly lady next door to thank you for clearing her driveway, so to speak, you probably need a “discipleship makeover.” Today seems like a pretty good day to begin… doesn’t it?!
©2013 Debbie Robus
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