"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am
only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I
possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in
evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass
away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection
comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked
like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a
man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a
mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I
shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.But
the greatest of these is love." - (1 Corinthians 13 NIV)
Happy Thriving Thursday!!!
Love is not self-seeking.
Oh, boy. I know I'll be stepping on toes with
this devotion! However, the Lord wants to share with His people on why it's
important not to self-seek in situations we face. Before we get defensive, this
message even applies to me, too. I know it's going to sting, but God will
definitely have His way with ministering to our hearts, and it will bless us
for our good. So, smile, precious heart!
Self-seeking - 1. the seeking of
one's own interest or selfish ends. 2. given to or characterized by
self-seeking; selfish.
It's always vital to refresh our memories with
definitions because it helps us to keep things in perspective, to comprehend
its meaning, and to have clarity. In today's world, we're told that it's all
about us and forget about others along the way, and it's magnified in ways,
which is extremely vast for our minds to understand. It's really sad because
this erroneous mentality is why the world is in the shape it’s in. Selfish
motives destroy everything it touches. It doesn't edify God in any way. It
always hurt others in the process. Even though, we can mean well with our
intentions, but somewhere along the line, if we're not careful, it will lead to
destruction in our relationships with others, whom God placed in our daily
lives.
I want to be clear. There's nothing wrong with
ambition. There's nothing wrong with accomplishments. There's nothing wrong
with wanting to do better in life. Nonetheless, there is something wrong with
over stepping our boundaries, when it comes to our morality. It doesn't matter
who we are, morality plays a huge role in our lives, whether we want to admit
it or not. The way we approach any situation will determine the outcome:
positive or negative.
How we treat others will expose our true
character and it will not remain camouflaged forever. How we seek
opportunities, when it's presented before us, will open a door of prosperous or
destructive living (and I don't mean financial prosperity). Needless to
say, if we're being honest, some people do allow financial gain corrupt who
they are and they don't care who they hurt to remain financially rich.
Here are some ways to know when we're falling into
selfishness:
If I help ___________, what's in it for me? I
refuse to go out my way if there isn't anything benefiting me in return.
I don't have time for anyone because no one
has made time for me. Why should I even bother caring for others?
I never did like ____________. I will leave
_____________ right where he or she is at. He or she put himself or herself in
that predicament. He or she is not taking me down with him or her. Sorry, I got
to do what’s right for me.
__________ is not appropriate in my circle.
He or she will only sabotage my reputation. I must surround myself around
people who will help me climb to the status I yearn to have.
These are a few examples. Of course, there are
many more. I just wanted to list some, so we're aware of this trap.
Self-seeking is a form of bondage. It may "encourage" us to believe
we're doing the right thing by looking out for ourselves, on the surface, but
if we delve deeper into this subject, we'll see clearly, in God's timing, that
it can hurt us in the long run.
I don't want anyone to have misconceptions about
not taking care of his or herself, for I believe in everyone taking care of
themselves, and venturing things for their best interest, especially
when it enhances their growth in life. No matter how old we are, we must steer
clear of thinking we have come to a place where we know everything.
Just because we develop some insight, it doesn't mean we're a “pro” when it
comes to living life, not-by-a-long-shot. Just when we think we have it all
together, this is where life knocks us off our feet, taking wind out of our
breath. And then, we stop and ask ourselves, "What happened?" or
"Where did I go wrong?" Hey, it happens. Life happens!
The sooner we prepare ourselves that life
happens, the better we are equipped to handle what comes our way.
And this is where praying to God kicks in, my lovely friends. Once we surrender our lives to Jesus, He transforms us with new thinking and living, which benefits us to be the people we are destined to be. He desires for us to be more loving, even when we fall short. He longs for us to seek His face, when life deliriously rattles out of control. He wants us to embrace a selfless life, in which we can see His full glory shining in our daily living.
He didn't create us to keep to ourselves. We don't live to ourselves and we don't die to ourselves (Romans 14:7). Yes, there's a time when we should keep to ourselves, especially when someone is out to intentionally hurt us. On the other hand, God has created us to live in harmony and to help each other whenever we fall.
Whenever we're not certain about people's intentions, I highly encourage you on praying to God. God will never lie to you. He will always shed the light of what's surrounding our lives. He never keeps those in the dark, when they are seeking for truth, once they worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
Society convinces us if we focus on self, we will prosper. Society also persuades us that what's in it for us always promise us that we'll constantly reap benefits, because it is an even-trade whenever two or more make a deal, so everybody wins. Society "encourages" us to talk about our problems, but not consider that others have ordeals they face, too. What society doesn't tell us is, that only talking, and not listening, is form of self-seeking. Doing good deeds just to get something in return is another form of self-seeking. Trashing others and putting ourselves on a pedestal is another way of self-seeking. Telling haters to bow down to us is self-seeking. God's word doesn't tell us that our haters (enemies) should worship us. Yes, God will bless our enemies to be at peace with us, whenever we delight in Him and our ways please Him (Proverbs 16:7).
We must tread carefully, when we make statements about haters bowing down to us because we "made" it. Haters have to answer to God why they do what they do, not us. We are not God and we don't determine their fate. Only God does. When we want others to recognize what we have done consistently and not acknowledge others for their gifts and abilities, it's a form of self-seeking and idol worshipping. God has specifically made it clear that we don't bow down to anyone or serve things, or people as idols (Exodus 20: 5, Deuteronomy 5:9). They can't save us or redeem us the way He can.
Haters are human like we are. None of us have a
Heaven or Hell to put anyone in. We all fall short and we all make mistakes.
That's what makes us human. It's what we learn and how we get back up, after
what has occurred in our lives, that truly counts.
So what does the Bible says to us about helping others?
"For, dear brothers (sisters), you have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other." - (Galatians 5:13, parenthesis is mine for sisters).
To be clear, when Galatians 5:13 mentioned about serve each other, it's not referring to wrongful slavery. We're not slaves to anyone, for slavery is bondage. To serve each other is to help one another. And how do we assist someone? We step outside our world and allow Christ's love to transform us on genuinely caring about the people we see daily. And it takes God's Holy Spirit to do a new work in us, for it's hard to do this on our own, even if we think we can, somewhere along the way, we will fall into a trap of self-seeking, even when we think we're not.
To step out of selfish intentions, we must
examine ourselves, not others, but ourselves. For it's good to reflect over our
lives, and it motivates us to seek better opportunities in life with
transforming our mindset into positive thinking.
We're poisoned to believe that it must be
frequently something in it for us, whenever we're motivated to do things. I will
be honest with you, whenever we do good things, we don't necessarily get
something back in return. Sometimes, we get hurt for helping others, who are
only out for self and they toss us away like yesterday's garbage.
This is what we need to keep in mind: whether you're rewarded or not, know that God is watching you and He sees your intentions. He knows you extremely well and He also knows you're doing the best you can, even though it seems like everything is falling apart for you. Know that because you are motivated with God's love, your actions are recorded in His Book of Life, for you will be rewarded in His timing and His way.
God usually rewards us when we least expect Him to. And even if He stops blessing us, we're still blessed because we know where and whom our help comes from, and He'll never leave nor forsake us, even when everyone else walks away from us. Whenever we're striving to be the best we can be, we must remember that it's God who is ordering our steps. Yes, when situations seem unexplainable, God has ordered it for His Divine purpose, so we can always rely on Him.
And we must also be wary of praying that we want
only good things to happen to us, not there is anything wrong with that, but we
can't expect for things to fall into our laps without doing what is required of
us. To where much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48).
When we surrender our lives to God, our old way of living becomes extinct. When we are in Christ, we are new, and carnal desires die, along with our carnal thinking. Living the Christian life is daily. It's not a ritual like only going to church on Sunday, and then do evil works for the rest of the week, and then going back to church on Sunday, repeating the same cycle.
Praying selfish prayers is self-seeking, especially when it doesn't benefit everyone who is involved (see James 4:3). Always seeking the pastor for guidance is self-seeking. How? Thinking that ministers don't face adversity and that they don't need prayer is selfish. They need an outpour of God's love and guidance as well. They don't have all the answers either, for they are growing in God's grace, just like we are. This is something to think about.
Doing God's "work" in vain glory is self-seeking. What is doing God's work? Actively praying. Actively seeking His Will nonstop (whatever that will is, there is no specific will. What God's will is for one person, is not the same for another. No two individuals have the same mission. We're all created to bring diversity into this world). Actively examining our lives. Whenever we give ourselves a self check-up, this prevents us from falling into judging others. And once we spiritually discern our situations and ourselves, no one can judge us, even if they try, they can't, because God does the conviction, not them or us. Actively getting involved with others, if we able to help them in some way, and it doesn't always mean financially. Just encouraging someone is enough. You'll be surprised with the results by walking in obedience for God, when He touches your heart to uplift someone who is hurting.
Just being there for someone goes a long way
than being rewarded for what we do. Some believe that being busy for God or
being busy, in general, means we're being productive, and that's not usually
the case. If we have our to-do lists and we complete them, and yet we still
feel drained by the end of the day, it's not adding to our well-being. Being
productive leads to positive results in the long run. How will you affect the people
who need positive influence in their lives? And how will it help you grow as a
person once you finish your journey on Earth?
Prayer: Father, I know
sometimes I allow self to get in the way of what's truly important. Please
forgive me when I seek for things, which involves something for me in return,
even when I may not realize it. Show me where I am going wrong with myself.
Show me how to be more like You. Help me to be more loving and caring for
others. Help me to see needs and not faults in people, when they need
encouragement and support. Show me how to seek for opportunities that will
honor You in everything I say and do. Show me how to pray unselfishly and
believe You know what's best for others and me, even when I don't see or
understand. Bless me to become better. Birth something new in me, so I will
continually draw closer to You, even when I stray away at times. Thank You for doing
a new work in me. I believe by faith it is done. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
If you believe in this prayer, may God continue
to bless you in every area of your life! Remember, this devotion isn't to knock
anyone down, for we're all guilty of self-seeking. But this devotion
is to remind us that we can easily fall into traps, the enemy daily schemes for
our demise. Continue to be the best the person you can be. Your reward will
come when you least expect it. And when God blesses you, He will draw you
closer to Him, and bring out the best in you, which glorifies Him. Until next
time, be blessed.