Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
This gem of a verse was one of the first that I committed to memory as an adult. It’s one of those “hit you in the gut” verses that can really make you feel the need for Christ’s forgiveness on a daily (ok, hourly) basis. As a mom of four, there are rarely days when I don’t have to put the needs of another ahead of my own. You have to count a baby as more significant than yourself, or he/she won’t survive. But you love that baby, he’s your own, you care about him, he’s cute and cuddly and smells so sweet. It’s easy to put his needs above your own because you love him so. What happens when we encounter a not so sweet and cuddly person, though?
It’s easy to get so busy in our own lives that we don’t have time to worry with the needs of anyone else. We lie to ourselves that we are being selfless because we are caring for our own children, but aren’t our immediate families really just an extension of ourselves? Sure, there are ways to be selfless with our spouse and to show that to our kids. That is eternally important, but if our selflessness ends at our own front door, are we really exhibiting the behavior in this verse? It doesn’t tell us to count a few others or others in our family as more significant (though they are included). It says others. So, if it’s not you, it’s an other! Yikes!
How do I count others as more significant? It helps to put myself in their shoes. So cliché, right? So true, though! Putting myself in someone else’s shoes, so to speak, is usually easier if that someone else wears shoes that are similar to mine. I can relate to people who are in the same phase of life as me when they look like me, talk like me, think like me. It’s easy and comfortable to see myself in their shoes because they are the same brand, style, color, and maybe even size. Sometimes I encounter someone in a different spot in life with smaller shoes that are tattered and worn down. It’s a little harder to put those shoes on because that little bit of judgment might weasel in and say, “She got to where she is because of choices she made; she deserves those shoes,” or even, “I don’t have time to deal with the problems that come along with those shoes.” What about a shoe that is expensive, fancy, very uncomfortable? Sometimes I think, “She doesn’t need me to walk in her shoes because she’s got it all together,” or, “She has more than I do, so she couldn’t possibly need anything I have to offer.” Everything looks perfect from the outside. The truth is usually far different than I assume it to be, though, and I’ve found too many times that she is the one that most needs to be counted as more significant. Still, it isn’t easy to put those shoes on when I’m a flip-flop kind of girl. Stepping out of my comfort zone, my flip-flops, is what it will take to count all others as more significant. I’ve got to take the time to see where the needs are in a person’s life if I want to begin to know how I can count that person as more significant. Before that, I’ve got to shed my own shoes, or self, and fill myself up with the Savior because I do not have the ability to do any of this on my own. He must work through me, or else I will inevitably screw it up.
This week I’ve really been focusing on how I can make time to count others as more significant and have been praying for God to open windows of opportunity for me. It’s amazing to see Him answer that prayer! Being intentional is so important in my walk with God because I easily fall into a rat race routine of earthly chores and duties if I’m not careful. I have to wake up and say, “Ok, God, be with me through each activity of today, and carve out times when I can do something eternal in the midst of it all.” Those eternal things are the only things that truly matter anyway. God doesn’t ask us all to throw everything away and to go to the ends of the earth to be of eternal significance (though He does call some to do that). The majority of us are right where God wants to use us, and opportunities for eternal significance are literally surrounding us to the extent that we could not reach our hands out in both directions without touching someone or something that could be used to impact the Kingdom. That is so extremely amazing to me and yet so equally terrifying to know of the time and opportunity I have squandered.
Look for ways to be less today so that another can feel as though you have elevated his/her needs above your own. It could simply be letting someone in front of you in the check-out line or paying for someone’s coffee or meal. If you are at the car wash and the bug scrubbing station is backed up, let someone else go in front of you instead of making him/her wait on you. Take someone dinner “Just Because.” Invite someone to your home for dinner. Be considerate to other drivers. Give away smiles to everyone you see today. Call someone to let him/her know you’re thinking of him/her. Stop to pray with and help someone who’s holding up a sign and begging for a meal. Pick up someone’s slack at work. Now add, “even if they don’t deserve it” to each of these sentences. Think about all of the ways that you might be able to count someone else as more significant while looking at your to-do list for the day. Make a list of possibilities. Then ask God to provide opportunities. Be intentional! Even if the opportunities don’t come, you have taken the first step of putting others above yourself just by planning for ways to put others above yourself! Cool, huh?
Dear God, thank you for the opportunities that I know you are going to give me today to be a part of your work here on Earth. Please open my eyes to the needs that are all around me, and help me to see them with your compassion. Bless the lives of all of those I encounter today, and reveal yourself to them even in and through my weakness and ineptness. You are so HOLY, and I will praise you through everything I do today! Thank you for your love, your grace, your mercy. Thank you for Your Son. In His Holy Name, Amen!