The most dangerous person I’ve ever had to confront in life has been: ME.
What life (as well as Scripture) has taught me is that to the degree that I am focused on myself; to the degree that I am the center of all my thoughts and aspirations and desires; to the degree that I am more concerned about myself and my problems and my issues than I am about anybody else … to just that degree I have become a slave – a slave in bondage to ME, MYSELF, and I.
As long as ME, MYSELF, and I are the top priorities in my life, I’m going to not only be miserable myself, but I will be very proficient at making the people around me miserable as well.
And yet that tendency to focus most on self seems to be built in to us as human beings. No child has to be taught how to be selfish – it comes very naturally. A hungry infant doesn’t care that it’s 4:00 am and mommy needs sleep so she can get up and go to work a few hours from now; baby wants to be fed now, and that’s all there is to it!
How can I escape that ingrained focus on self? Here’s the Bible’s prescription:
Philippians 2:3 (NKJV) Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
I can escape the trap of being in bondage to ME, MYSELF, and I, only by deliberately putting other people ahead of myself. I actually need to look for ways to prefer someone else over myself; to give, or at least share the best I have with someone who would be blessed by it rather than being intent on keeping it for myself.
That’s a tall order for someone as inherently selfish as I am! I don’t have that kind of love for others. But God does. And He has promised that when I commit myself to loving others that way, He’ll actually share His own love through me.
You can read more about this at: Avoiding Self-Centeredness: How To Keep Your Ego In Its Place
Ron Franklin
