Seek The Good Of Others

Jesus is so challenging for us in how He lives: what motivates Him, and how He responds with His emotions, His time, and His actions.  Jesus told His followers this:

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. John 5:30

How many of us, as we come to the end of our day and reflect on how it all went could honestly say, “I sought not to please myself but God?”  We want that to be the case but so often we don’t bother to check in with God about what He might actually want us to do or we know what to do  but it’s not convenient or we feel like we don’t have time, or whatever.

Jesus’ choices – from times He inconvenienced Himself when He was tired for the sake of others, to the ultimate sacrifice of suffering and dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.  There was nothing convenient about that process. 

Jesus clearly and consistently lived this principle that we are given in God’s Word:

No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. 1 Corinthians 10:24

No this doesn’t mean that we thoughtless or co-dependently try to do things for others. It means that our first priority should not be “what’s best for me” but rather “what’s best for God and others?” 

Once again, it won’t necessarily be something that is naturally in our thoughts.  We will need God to show us the proper way forward. 

Loving God, You sought the best for us, not yourself by sending Your only Son to come to earth to reveal Your heart to us and then to die in our place on the cross.  Help us today to surrender our will and our lives to you in such a way that we can move forward towards that place where Jesus lived, seeking not to please Himself but You who sent Him.  Amen

We’ll never get there on our own but God is more than willing to walk with us and show us the way if we will seek the good of others rather than live to simply please ourselves.