Does Self Add To The Meaning of Life?

The “self-life” is a tragedy and malady that plays out far too often in folks who are constantly dealing with hurt, pain, disappointment, failure, and depression.  And as Michael points out so succinctly it is very frustrating to see Christians particularly who somehow miss God’s wonderful words of Life that bring joy no matter what the circumstances of our life might be. 

Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. –I Corinthians 10:24

There appears to be one common denominator in the multitude of approaches to understanding life, and that is self-life."What is the benefit in life forme? Can suffering be justified for me? Can my marriage breakup, the loss of my job, my unwed pregnant daughter, my illness, or the rejection of others somehow be advantageous to me? Will knowledge help me? How will all my efforts profit me? If not now, will there be a good return for me in heaven? Will I find out then that I was really being blessed by all of those mishaps?"   

Recently I was listening to a pastor in Africa relate how the marriage ministry had depleted the thrust of the church. Those participating had decided they were not to minister to others until every minute detail of their marriages was worked out. It seems the husbands could not justify evangelizing, ministering to the poor, or helping the sick as long as there was a dissatisfied wife at home. The pastor's conclusion was that the whole bunch had become too selfish; they wanted perfect comfort before they ministered to the world's discomfort. I agreed. 

One fellow took care of his ailing parent only to ensure the security of his inheritance. A lady called nearly everyone in a small town to describe her husband's onset of cancer, and then proceeded to explain to each one how much she would be suffering! A man divorced his wife for a younger woman and then wanted to know how he was supposed to maintain his preferred lifestyle with the financial burden of a divorce settlement. It is often hard to discern if parents want the child to walk with God for the child's benefit or their own identity. Self is no stranger to desiring a throne, crown, and scepter and using others as its footstool. 

Each day the first person we touch, clothe, see in the mirror, feel comfort or physical pain from, feed, and emotionally sense is our self. Is it any wonder that the enemy would choose to make self a stumbling block? Each day starts with us; why not continue from that point and make self the obsession? More often than not, the point stressed in teaching heard on radio or television is self, whether it is being blessed or cursed.The frustrating thing is that there is no happiness derived from self-absorption. 

As a pastor for many years, I have heard members say exactly what Michael mentions that the pastor in Africa related.  Several variations of his story could be the key to the failure of many ministries in churches today.

How?  How could any Christian think they were not to minister to others until every minute detail of their life was “worked out”?  What is “worked out”?  What about Philippians 1:6?  “…He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”  God is still “working out” things in each of us.

So often I find myself asking “why?”.  Why do Christians have God’s instruction manual, ignore His instructions, then continue to live as if travelling down the road of life in the opposite direction from God…and somehow expect things to turn out “OK”?

It doesn’t take a PhD from seminary to grasp God’s heart in those words of Paul from 1 Corinthians 10:24.  If we have any knowledge whatsoever of the life of Christ, we know He came not for Himself but for others.  And then Paul, in his writing to the church at Philippi, gave a more detailed picture: (Philippians 2:1-4) “If there be  therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” 

How simple to understand and follow can “Others: God’s Roadmap to Joy” be?  Yet, SELF somehow continues to pervade the lives of way too many Christians.

Spend a few minutes before the Lord, re-reading Michael’s writing, and seeking God’s heart for your life in relation to any issue where SELF is intervening.