Let me tell you about three very dangerous individuals. Not that they intend to hurt you; in fact they present themselves to you making the claim that they are going to help you gain all you want and need in life. But experience has shown that to the degree that you allow them to have a major influence in your life, you open yourself to pain, misery, shame, loneliness, fear, anger, and depression.
Who are these dangerous people? They go by the names of: ME, MYSELF, and I.
If you want to find the most miserable person in your town, just look for someone whose entire focus is on these three.
God’s answer to keeping these dangerous individuals in their place permeates the Bible. Here’s just one example:
1 Peter 4:8 (NKJV) And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
How do we escape the trap of me, myself, and I? Our focus is to be on loving one another, not on our love of self. One of the characteristics of love is that when we fervently love someone else, as Scripture commands, love of self fades into the background.
That’s because real love, the kind of agape love that God has for us, and that we are to have for others, is always willing to sacrifice for the one who is loved. It puts the other person ahead of self.
Have fervent love for others – and escape the trap of me, myself, and I!
Ron Franklin
