The following is one of numerous short blogs I wrote for my kids as they graduated from high school. Each received 12 blogs, tailored to each one, in a book.
Selflessness
The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves. - Helen Keller
Scripture
“Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.”
Proverbs 11:24 NLT
Story
The truth is I can be a pretty selfish person. But there have been some times where I got it right. One time when I was a teen, my friend’s family could not pay their mortgage on their home. The dad had been out of work for a while because of an injury. I did not have much money, but I cobbled together enough for one mortgage payment. I put the cash inside an old wallet with a picture of Jesus. Quietly I snuck to their home and put the wallet in the door, rang the doorbell, and ran like heck. I never heard a word about the gift, but it has been an ebenezer stone for me all my life.
Lesson
Measure your life by what you give away not by what you gain. The American Way is to strive to gather stuff. You’ve probably heard the false proverb, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” Well, Madame Blueberry taught us the fruitlessness of gathering stuff from stuffmart. The truth is that giving enriches your life more than getting.
Imagine yourself 70 years old at your birthday party. Imagine the people talking about your life, your exploits, your character. What do you want to hear? Are the most precious remarks from those relationships that you gave yourself to. Giving, not getting, will gain you the most valuable things in life, true blue, beautiful relationships.
However, you should also work to give to those that can never pay you back, that you may never have a relationship with. Giving with no expectation of return is one of the most beautiful gifts we can give to someone. In fact, any giving motivated by getting is imperfect albeit helpful.
Jesus was the greatest example of selflessness there was. He gave himself to death, suffering, but not sinning, to help those that needed Him then, now, and in the future. We who follow Jesus should follow his example and put others ahead of themselves. It will be the only way to introduce Jesus to anyone.
Works Cited/Recommended Resources
Hall, Ron. Same kind of Different as Me. Thomas Nelson, 2008.
Stearns, Richard. The Hole in our Gospel. Thomas Nelson, 2010.
Davis, Katie. Kisses from Katie. Howard Books, 2012.
Questions
How can you avoid the cultural push to get all you can instead of giving all you can? How can you avoid your own basic desire to get rather than give?
What people would you most like to help in your life? Why?
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