So the final point on the Joy series from my pastor last week has to do with Pride and self-centeredness. There is an over-abundance of scripture that cautions and guards us against pride. Pride is the final “Joy Robber.”
I think that the greatest commandment of “love others as yourself” puts into perspective that if we really understood how much we love ourselves, and gave that away… what a difference it would make in how we live our lives.
I always get cautious about talking in accusation of someone else’s faults for fear of the principle that when you point, 3 fingers point back at you.
I would like to think that I am a good listener. I would like to think that I am fairly humble. I would love to think that I am not self-absorbed. As I look at my life and evaluate how I spend my time and make decisions, I realize I have the ability to be selfish. I tend to take my own needs and wants as priority over others. I have tried to become sensitive to this and live with others perspective in mind.
My caution is that I seem to live in extremes… and, I have the tendency to live all one way or the other. I seem to give too much, or not at all… striking this balance of caring for others as much as I love myself is an issue of balance.
If my love is a finite measurable amount, let’s say it is sand in an hourglass… I need to get as much in one side that is the love I am giving as in the side of which I love myself. I don’t know that I am explaining this clearly… in my mind it makes sense…
I guess I would challenge myself to look at a few things; how do I choose how to spend my time? how do I decide whether or not to be involved in something if offered? in conversations, how often do I tell stories about “me, my, I”?
Stephen J. Weaver 