Very recently, I have been investing some time in trimming back what comes into my inbox.  I get hundreds of emails a day that I just swipe and delete.  Emails from companies that are trying their very best to make sure I part with some hard-earned cash in exchange for something they can offer me.

Special offers.  Loyalty offers. One-day-only offers.  Offers promising to make me look better, feel better, stay healthier, improve my smile, enhance my eyes, smooth my complexion…the list goes on and on. 

Then there are other offers.  Ones to boost my income, improve my memory, increase my knowledge, support my learning…

All for me, me, me, me, me.

I am to take whatever I have in time, money or resources and pump it back into myself in the hope that somewhere along the line I should become a better, thinner, more intelligent, more attractive version of myself.

Modern life is all about me.

Which is completely counter-cultural to what the Bible tells us. Let’s take a look at these words from Philippians 2:3-8:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

This is not a message that neatly fits with the constant bombardment of media telling us that we need to focus more and more on ourselves because we deserve it; this is not a message with others at the centre at all!

So how do we fight this barrage we get? These constant messages encouraging us to put ourselves first, looking only to our own interests?

1. Keep Questioning – do nothing from selfish ambition

Sometimes, we can have a short memory can’t we? We mean well, we have good intentions, but the swamps of life consume us and before we know it, we are exactly where we tried so hard not to be, didn’t want to be or thought we’d never be.

And the only way to conquer ourselves sometimes is to keep asking ourselves questions…

              Who is this for?

Who does this benefit?

What is this for?

Whose glory is this for?

Who does this serve?

If we are intentionally checking up on ourselves, taking time to reflect and check where we are and where we are headed, maybe we would stand less chance off derailing ourselves.

What questions can you ask yourself to check that your motive is not selfish, or your ambition misplaced?

• Keep Well – Look not only to his own interests

So by implication, we can assume that we are to take care of our own interests.

It’s keeping those interests in the right place.

I am convinced that we are to do our best to eat healthily, drink plenty of water, exercise regularly and get enough sleep.

Modern life is so full of stressors that, without these, we can sink ourselves fast.

We are to take care of whatever it is God has given us: our bodies, our families, our jobs, our homes, our resources…

BUT…

• Keep Watch – But also the interests of others

We can check our motives, and keep our resources well without ever looking to someone else’s welfare. 

As deliberate as we are with these other things, so must we be with other people.

Galatians 6:10 tells us to do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. 

We need to look out for other people, in a way that is intentional and deliberate; helping wherever and whenever we can, with whatever resources God has given us.

Some people may need our time, others may need finances, some might need help…we can be creative in how we give back what God has given to us!

• Keep Christ – Yours in Christ Jesus

And at the centre of it all, there must be Jesus.

All we have is because of God’s rich blessing to us.  Whether we are able to finance a missionary overseas, or be the hug someone needs on a dark day, we can do these things because Christ first loved us.

And His love is not distant or aloof, dependent on our worthiness or social status.  His love was the very epitome of self-sacrifice.

We can follow a lot of people; wise people, knowledgeable people, humanitarians and charitable workers with big hearts.

But let us always keep Christ as our ultimate role model, who took the form of a servant and humbled himself.

Yes, we live in a world that promotes self over other, and applauds ambition over service and esteems gain over sacrifice.  But this is not the life we are called to. Press on sisters! …Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:9