At a recent pastor/leader conference where both Chuck Smith and I were speaking, I handed him one of our “Others” bumper stickers. He smiled and launched into a poem whose memorization was required for membership in the Hi-Y in his high school. (Hi-Y was a high school YMCA program that I, too, had been a member of in Greenwood, Mississippi).
As a gift of his memory, here is the poem:
Others Prayer
Lord, help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for others.
Help me in all the things I do,
To ever be sincerely true,
And know that all I do for you
Must needs be done for others.
Others, Lord, yes others,
Let this, my motto be.
Help me to live for others
That I might live for thee.
In these difficult economic times, true wealth resides in the understanding of that one word – Others. As a contrast, our current economy was produced by unbridled greed – self-centeredness.
Keep in mind that the opposite of others – self-centeredness, also known as pride – was the event that split Heaven and formed Hell. That split continues to divide the universe.
Keep in mind that Jesus lived that heavenly faithfulness by serving others and giving of himself. When Jesus said, “Satan has nothing in me,” it was a statement of a total others-centered life. Pride and selfishness had been conquered.
Keep in mind that Jesus declares that he did not come to be served (selfishness), but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many (others-centered).
Keep in mind that Jesus requires those who follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross (the constant knowledge that they belong on one) and follow him.
Keep in mind that he finally sums up the achievement of all things good by declaring that whoever loses (gives away) his life for Christ’s sake shall find it.
Think of all the problems solved by simply blessing others: When I am blessing others, I am not sinning. When I am self-centered, all manner of sin expresses itself. When I am blessing others, my life is filled with joy. When I am thinking of myself, I reap misery, depression, mental illness, fear, etc.
When Jesus confronted Peter with those famous questions, “Do you love me?” he knew that Peter’s redemption did not lie in self-thought or self-examination, but in the giving away of himself – the very thing he was called to do originally. “Feed my sheep,” rose to apostolic level as therapy. Health is still wrapped up in blessing others and doing so by choice and not by manipulation.
When depressed people ask me for help, I direct them to simple things. Write letters of thanks to people who don’t usually get them – such as city officials. Walk around your block every morning and pray for the people in each house you pass. Start a prayer list for the needs of others. So begins their redemptive recovery.
Marriage (a gift of God) falls to misery when described by such statements as “He (or she) doesn’t meet my needs,” or “He (or she) doesn’t make me happy or satisfy my emotions.”
Happiness in marriage is not the result of getting the other to meet my needs, but for two people to give 100% in making life better for the other one. That is called Paradise.
Does the power of “others” sound too simple? It is! However, that makes it sound so divine, since the kingdom is designed to be understood by children. Oh, that this was the first word we taught them.
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Gayle can be reached at http://www.servant.org/
1 comment:
I want that to be my prayer.
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