Selfishness.

So why is it that relationships with other people seem to bring out the worst in us? Before I had boyfriends, or roommates, I thought I was basically perfect. Gosh, was I wrong! For the past four years, I have been knocked off my high horse, realizing different ways that I am certainly NOT perfect. In relationships, I've seen how selfish I can be. That's really the problem, isn't it? We're selfish people. We are the center of our worlds. We are the people we are thinking about constantly, not others. We're thinking about our own well-being, our own satisfaction, our own interests. How is that working out for us? For me, it sucks. Why? Probably because I am (we are) called to something different:


"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."-Philippians 2:3-4 


Gosh, so much of my life is doing what I want to do, when I want to do it, based on my feelings.


"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."-John 15:12-13


Sure, I'd lay down my life for my friends and the people I love, but would I give up some of my little "rights" or things I think I deserve? Like giving up the remote after a long day when I just want to veg out with my favorite show? Like having to prove that I'm right, even when it really shouldn't matter? Like not acting on my impulses when others' feelings may be involved? Like having a good attitude when I feel I have the right to be crabby? Blargh.


Honestly, I don't have the right to those things. As a follower of Christ, I am to lay down those rights for other people. This doesn't mean being a pushover, but it does mean focusing on things that are eternal, instead of temporal. Only three things are eternal; God, His word, and peoples' souls. Lord, help me.