“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourself. Each of you should not only look to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Philippians 2:1-4
Lately God has been teaching me the importance of a life of unselfish service. Christ said that the whole law could be summed up by two commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And “Love your neighbor as yourself” All of Christianity is bound up under these two principles. God must be first in our lives, and then we should be looking as to how we can help others. In Philippians God tells us that if we are to have any encouragement from being united with Christ, or any fellowship with His Spirit (basically having an alive relationship with God) then we must have the same purpose. This purpose is considering others better than we consider ourselves. If we truly desire a relationship with God, our lives must be in line with His chief joy, helping others.
With this being said, I think that the most important thing we have to watch for is our motives. Christ said that when we give to the poor we shouldn’t even let our right hand know what our left hand is doing. If we are helping others just because we desire selfish recognition, the only blessing we will receive will be praise from those around us.
“But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly”
Matthew 6:3-4
