Is Life All About Me?

Advertisers have helped businesses sell their products by convincing us that we deserve those products. One tool and hardware company caught our attention with "You deserve the best." A cosmetic company told us that "You deserve to say yes." Of course, the most famous of these campaigns was released by McDonalds in 1971 with the slogan "You deserve a break today."

Added to these slogans have been the use of celebrities implying that if we use the products they are promoting, we might look like or be as famous as they are. Do you ever wonder if they actually use the products that they are promoting?

In the 21st Century we have seen the promotion by the rich, the sports heroes, the famous, and the politicians voice claims about being the greatest and that all of life should revolve around them. The emphasis is that every idea they voice should be quickly embraced by the rest of us.

With influencers like these constantly bombarding us with the "everything is about me" theory, it is no wonder that to some degree we tend to embrace that philosophy for ourselves. Even though there is popularity in focusing only on me, is that the philosophy, theory, or practice that we should emulate for our lives?

When we open the Bible and begin reading God's instructions, commandments, and guidance for our lives, we discover that it stands in stark contrast to the teachings of culture and the secular world. In fact, the word "deserve" that is so prevalent in the philosophy of so many is not found in God's guidance for us. The opposite is actually found in the word "grace." In the simplest definition of grace, it refers to God giving or extending to us what we do not deserve. When we deserve punishment for our sin, He offers forgiveness as we confess and repent of our sin - that is Grace. We don't deserve it, but He gives it.

When we look at the most foundational instructions from the Bible, we quickly notice that the focus is not on Me, but rather it is upon God and Others.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with

all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the great and first commandment. And a second

is like it; You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commandments depend all the

Law and the Prophets."

Matthew 22:37-40

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one

another; just as I have loved you, you also are to

love one another. By this all people will know that you

are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

John 13:34-35

The foundation of love for God and love for one's fellowman leads us to some very practical applications that again focus beyond ourselves, not on ourselves.

"Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if

anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing,

he deceives himself."

Galatians 6:2-3

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

as God in Christ forgave you."

Ephesians 4:32

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

Matthew 5:44

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you."

James 4:10

This week I pray that the example in our lives will be Jesus, not the celebrities, politicians, and advertisers who would make us the one around whom all life revolves. If you need reminding of your place in this world, recall the words of the Psalmist:

"Know that the Lord, He is God!

It is He who made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture."

Psalm 100:3