Think about others

Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired [to have] you, that he may sift [you] as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

It is the spirit of the age we are living in for men to be selfish and express a lack of care for others. We see it on our roads when everyone wants to have right of way and this has led to accidents not a few. Some drivers are so arrogant and use foul language every now and then. At that point the world is rotating around them and they don't mind about others.

It is common for a believer not to care about the survival of the church by not paying their tithes but consume all the money on themselves. They have a nonchalant attitude that God will provide for His church nevertheless. That is ignorance about how God's working on the earth. Your finances are a sign that you believe in what the local church body is doing and you want it to advance.

When a group photo is taken and you are looking at the image of it, who do you see first? Most probably it will be you and others next. It doesn't matter whether you were at the back, your eyes first searches out for you. It's human nature and you are not weird if you act that way.

Jesus established another way we ought to live, to think about others, love others as you love yourself, to esteem others better than yourself , to honour others. He was simply saying that you are important true, but place high importance of others first. This is quite contrary from the self love the enemy is pushing for nowadays. People even believers don't want to know how their actions hurt others, in manners of like dress, talk, etc. The trend of today is "as long as you like it, don't mind another person's opinion." I want to tell you child of God that other people's opinion especially those who matter most in your life about you matters. It's wise if you found out who such people are and value their opinion about you and adjust where necessary.

Christian living is not entirely about you but others. Paul told Timothy that he should give himself wholly to the things of God that his profiting may become evident others, he continues and says not only will he save himself but others under him. Obviously if you advance in the things of God and your spiritual life, you are definitely going to profit others. Likewise if you don't, still your affecting others in one way or the other. Some who would have benefitted from you will not if your growth doesn't increase. You have no right to misuse your body because when you do, your family is being affected. You are so selfish in that you don't care about those who love you and the high investment they have made in you. Life doesn't start and end with you. There are other people who look up to you for their survival, admiration and reputation so think about them.

You taking a step to start a Missional family, a church plant, going for evangelism, sharing this blog are some of the selfless ways you can ever do that will bless others. Jesus told peter that when you are converted (repented, turned back to me), strengthen the brethren. We have a lot of Christians who are mature enough to raise other disciples, do exploits for God but they are all self centered that they cannot spare time to be a blessing to others. All they care about is their wellbeing, their immediate family and nothing else. My friend, someone's son out there is going to marry your daughter. If the world around you is decaying, no one will be fit enough to marry her. Be mindful that you have a word for this dying world, a message of reconciliation which can transform it and you simply keep quiet about it. That thinking is consistent with that of Lot in his time. He was righteous and all those around him including his immediate family were all given to sin. No wonder he was the only man Abraham was negotiating for so that God wouldn't destroy him among the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Ten was too high a number to get from the family of Lot! The bible he was vexed about the situation, 2 Peter 2:6-7, but he didn't do anything about it. He didn't preach to others. 

It's the error many believers do today not to preach the gospel. They think they will preach by their actions and where necessary use words. Both should be done. Don't keep the word of God to yourself. Don't just go for holidays and vacations and not think about missions, don't just attend church, serve in the church in some department God is leading you, spread the gospel, take up responsibility to be the change agent in your community for the gospel's sake, am sure you can do a better job of pastoring than those you see not representing him well out there because by God's grace you are more educated than them. Why sit back and leave the beautiful work of God to school dropouts yet with your degree, masters or PhD you can do a better job? The devil has deceived a lot of Christians that because they are highly educated, then they cannot do menial jobs in the church like ushering, cleaning the latrines of the church, carrying machines, shepherding etc. Such well educated people turn out to be so self centered that they cannot be ordered around, mercy Lord. We have been robbed of their services they would have rendered to the body if Christ. Because they are selfish, they associate with the high end people of society for the sake of business contacts and career advancement. They neglect the work of God because the devil has made them so busy for it. They are well enough to support the church but they don't because they want the latest car there is and gadgets and despise the ministry. It's not bad to have those things, but hold in high esteem the ministry to God and it others. Like Jesus told Peter to be mindful of others, if God has enabled you advance financially, it means you should invest in God's work more. The higher you go in education, the greater your service to God and His people should be. This is true in the lives of most bible characters. The ones who were used more by God were either very rich, or very wise in the wisdom of this world. 

In fact it is said by some that God wouldn't choose someone to be a prophet if they were poor. Abraham, was a rich man, and his son's too, Isaac and Jacob. Solomon was wise and rich, Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians no wonder he wrote the first five books of the old testament, Daniel was the wisest among the wise men of the East, Job was a very rich man. Paul was highly educated no wonder he wrote more than half the new testament. Believe God for riches and wisdom to do much for the Lord. God is not against riches but against one who uses them only on himself forgetting the work of God. The gospel and church work needs more lawyers, doctors, engineers to do what our fathers could not because they weren't educated. By your education, you can be able to understand complex issues an uneducated person cannot. Church growth is complex, you need many keys for it to happen. Let not the devil rob you of your destiny by neglecting serving others.

Let's rise up dear children of God to the reality of our call to think about and serve others. By serving others, you are serving God and you will attain the greatest satisfaction and life's joys when you do. 

EK