Putting Others Before Ourselves
“When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves. Do not be interested only in your own life but be interested in the lives of others.” – Philippians 2:3-4
Putting others before ourselves is hard to do. We can be selfish, self- seeking, and sinful people. The Bible calls us not to be that way. As Christians, we are supposed to put the needs of others before our own. To do it, we need help too since we cannot do it on our own. Why do we need help to put others first? The answer comes from Genesis chapters 1–3. Humans used to live in the state of innocence and were obedient to God until the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:1-7).
Since then, human hearts are evil and cannot be obedient to God and His laws and commands (Romans 8:7). We struggle to do good and the right thing. Philippians 2:3-4 describes the godly things we are to do. It includes doing nothing out of selfish ambition or pride. This means having the desire to be number one, no matter the cost. We need to put others first. Putting others’ needs first is utterly foreign to us since the fall of the first humans. Therefore, we cannot do it by our own ability. It is only by help from the Holy Spirit which makes it possible for us to do (Romans 8:26). He is the one who controls our actions and thoughts.
Jesus is the perfect example we can follow. He put the needs of God's before His own so He could fulfill God’s plan of salvation. He saved us from God’s wrath and eternal punishment. We cannot do exactly what Jesus did, but we can put another's needs first and give our lives in devoted service to God in this way. As people of God, we will rise above the selfish strife of evil men in the world and show God's goodness through how we treat others.
Prayer of the day:
Dear heavenly Father,
Please help us to put the needs of others before our own. We need help because our hearts are not always filled with goodness. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can do the impossible like putting others first. We pray that You take the evil out of our hearts so we can serve You better and show mercy and love to others. Please let Your goodness show in us so we can be an example of Jesus to a lost and dark world. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
