Love means not seeking for self or seeking those things that please only me. Love is seeking what is best for others or contributing to the lives of other people. This is not to say that we should totally forget about self. We owe it to ourselves to seek those good things that do contribute to a full and abundant life. I think we should seek out great books and other media to add to our knowledge and wisdom. We should seek out other people who will add dimension to our life. A quote I have repeated numerous times is that "we will be the same people five years from now as we are today except for the books we read and the people we meet." This is why I feel it is so important to invest a portion of our time in the reading of the Bible and spend time with God and with other believers. As a result we will grow.
Here is the problem. Many seek only those things that bring fulfillment to them alone. They do this at the expense of disregarding others and their feelings. It is all about me seems to be a prevalent attitude in today's culture. The real purpose of our lives is to glorify God first and seek to add quality to the lives of those that God places us around in this world. So many would automatically think that they must become a Mother Teresa figure in this world and take on a life of poverty and serve the poorest of the poor. I beg to differ with this thought. God wants some of us to live right where we are and work at exactly what we do, but He wants us to look around us and observe and meet the needs of those He places us with.
The situations we find ourselves in today is a fast paced life with so many man-made pressures and distractions that we can't see the needs God has put us in the midst of. So we must prioritize our time and our days. We should set aside some time to spend with God and then spend some time simply observing or noticing the needs of others. This is truly seeking to add to the lives of others. Instead we find that our time is spent literally chasing the wind and feeling tired and frustrated at the end of our day. It is amazing what you can find out in ten minutes of simply listening to others and not talking and not rushing. I truly believe that God has a plan that we are in the middle of. He has us there with the sole purpose of lending aid and a caring heart to those who are hurting or those whom He is seeking.
Henry Blackaby in the book Experiencing God spends much time on the topic. His counsel to us is to watch where God is at work in our world and join Him in His work. He also has a great quote about knowing the will of God. People constantly say that they just can't find out God's will for their lives. His advice in finding God's will is to simply do what you know to be God's will. Then the question pops up again...what is God's will? How about the first great commandment to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might, and the second commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. If you do these two things with all sincerity and purpose God will fill in the blanks on anything else He decides is His will for your life. Doing these things is to not be self seeking. Once again we have made the obvious simple truth very complicated.
I charge you today as I challenge myself to put God first, others second and myself third. If we do these things it is truly an act of Love on our part.
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