Proverbs 18:1 says, “1 An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment.”
This proverbs says to me… “Be about others! Don’t be so self-centered. When people tell you that you are being selfish, there’s a good chance you are… Humans are wired that way…. But you are a new creation in Christ. God is making you different.... God is making you better... Allow Him to have His way.”
Sometimes its very hard to even understand the extent of our selfishness. We tend see others as selfish while we see ourselves as liberal in well doing.
A guy at my company passed along a great quote that I always think of when I am tempted to harshly evaluate, categorize or label others, which says,
“We tend to judge others based on their actions. We tend judge ourselves based on our intentions.” Wow! That's me!
It reminds me of the wisest man’s words that ever walked the earth…
“1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” Matthew 7:1-5
Jesus always says it best… He keeps it simple…
- God Blesses You with Riches Daily. Share them with others…Two gifts God gives us each day are forgiveness and mercy. (Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”)
- Be honest with yourself… “Look in the mirror and stop calling a big problem (i.e. a plank) small (i.e. a speck)!”
- Honest self reflection and the implementation of solutions equals credibility… If you focus on fixing your problem, people will notice you fixed it and ask you for help. Right now you may be kind of like a lost person that wants to give out directions.
The plank I am going to work on today is selfishness. Here’s the way I plan on implementing this Proverb…
Today…
- Instead of focusing primarily on me, I will attempt to focus more on others.
- Instead of focusing primarily on my prayer requests, I will focus on asking God to bless those around me.
- Instead of focusing primarily on the things people have done to me, I will focus on forgiving them.
- Instead of focusing primarily on the reasons other people annoy me, I will focus on the fact that they (like me) are God’s children and based on that fact alone… They deserve my love.
Today is going to be a good day because God is going to use me to be a blessing.
Time to reflect…
- What plank are you going to work on removing today?
- What specific step are you going to take to get that plank out of your way?
- How did the other verses from Proverbs 18 impact you?
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I'm big on listening so Verses 13-17 really spoke to me. Also enjoyed your thoughts. Today, I'm going to work on my gratitude. Sometimes it can be easy to complain and overlook the blessing for which we are complaining about. Thank God! for my many blessings...big and small.
ReplyDeleteExcellent thoughts. It's so good for us to really chew on what it means to actually be "friendly" in Jesus' eyes, and to build this as the framework through which we live. Instead there are pundits, preachers, or self-promoters around every corner who model and encourage us to pursue selfish agendas and underlying motives. What a contrast to Jesus, the Best Friend a sinner (like me!) could ever have!
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