“I didn’t accomplish a single thing I set out to do today.” How many times have we bemoaned it? We start the day energized at the thought of conquering our to-do lists, and then like wrong-way traffic careening toward us in our lane, here they come—other people’s priorities. Though we swerve and dodge and start and stop as best we can, inconvenience flares into frustration and irritation simmers in resentment. Sound familiar? This is why some organizational wonks recommend we build a certain number hours into our daily schedule for the unforeseen needs of others. In my career, I found this to be good, practical advice.
Yet God leads us to serve others from a perspective far higher than mere acquiescence—namely, their value to their Creator and as objects of His love. We are equal in this respect, each one as important as the others. Time and again, Paul exhorted early believers to love others as themselves—not in just a “warm, fuzzy feelings” sense, but the proactive kind of love that embraces the good of others as being as important as one’s own. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ,”1 he penned to the Galatians. To the believers in Corinth, he wrote, “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”2 And lest any misunderstanding linger, the apostle doubled down in his letter to the Philippian church, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”3
Our individual responsibilities remain, of course, and we only have finite time in which to execute them. This does not change. What can change, though, is our perspective—our understanding that other people are as precious to God as we are, and that their needs are as important as ours. When we serve them, we serve Him. When we proactively love them, we proactively love Him who calls them His own. So much so that Jesus will say to us on a day that draws ever nearer, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”4 This is community, this is oneness; this is God’s best for us, and He calls us to it. Then when the needs of others compound our own, may we stop long enough to remember how God loves them, and how He calls us to love them, too. Try it today and see the difference.
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”5 —Jesus
Father, our self-centeredness hardens us to the needs of others, yet they are Yours. Lead us by Your Spirit, that we would love them as generously and as You love us. In Christ we pray. Amen.
1 Galatians 6:2
2 1 Corinthians 10:24
3 Philippians 2:2-4
4 Matthew 25:40 NIV
5 Acts 20:35
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Paul Nordman—Author 