Giving It Up
Hey, notice me! Aren't I great? Aren't you glad you know me? Look at all these amazing things I've done. Imagine what life would be like without me. Check out all these things I'm incredibly good at... you're so lucky to know someone like me.
Whether it's Facebook, relationships, the workplace, or anywhere in between, we live in a culture that value self-promotion above all else. In a world where the individual is glorified and the community is often forgotten, competition to survive as "the best" is cut-throat. Social media allows us to pick and choose what parts of our lives we present to the world, while texting and email give us time to find the perfectly crafted, witty reply to whatever has been said.
Self-promotion encourages us to constantly focus inward, only noticing others when we compare ourselves to them. After awhile, though, we will inevitably tire of this never ending work. We will look around and realize that in our desire to make ourselves stand out above the others, we have really only succeeded in making ourselves alone.
God invites us to turn against the cycle of self-promotion. Instead, he asks us to give up to him the things we hold most precious: our future, our status, and our desire to save ourselves. He asks us to lie down at His feet in humility and go out to help the least.
As Christian's, we do not have to worry about the business of promoting ourselves, because we are promised that in serving Christ, we will find everything we need. Jesus says in Matthew 19:29-30, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."
In other words, maybe it's time we stop asking "What will I gain?" and begin asking "What can I give?"
Whether it's Facebook, relationships, the workplace, or anywhere in between, we live in a culture that value self-promotion above all else. In a world where the individual is glorified and the community is often forgotten, competition to survive as "the best" is cut-throat. Social media allows us to pick and choose what parts of our lives we present to the world, while texting and email give us time to find the perfectly crafted, witty reply to whatever has been said.
Self-promotion encourages us to constantly focus inward, only noticing others when we compare ourselves to them. After awhile, though, we will inevitably tire of this never ending work. We will look around and realize that in our desire to make ourselves stand out above the others, we have really only succeeded in making ourselves alone.
God invites us to turn against the cycle of self-promotion. Instead, he asks us to give up to him the things we hold most precious: our future, our status, and our desire to save ourselves. He asks us to lie down at His feet in humility and go out to help the least.
As Christian's, we do not have to worry about the business of promoting ourselves, because we are promised that in serving Christ, we will find everything we need. Jesus says in Matthew 19:29-30, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."
In other words, maybe it's time we stop asking "What will I gain?" and begin asking "What can I give?"
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