LOVE IS NOT SELFISH
I Corinthians 13:4-5
Philippians 2:3-5
For many of us, the name Brain "Head" Welch, may not be familiar. We wouldn't recognize his face, although our eyes might be drawn to a small tattoo of a cross and three tear drops just below the corner of his right eye. "Head," as his fans knew him, is a former member of the successful heavy metal band, Korn.
With fame came everything he could ever want -- the worship of adoring fans, money, cars and drug. But no matter how much he had, it wasn't enough. He wanted more and more to the detriment of his marriage, his daughter and even his own physical well-being.
His life was the very definition of selfishness: the preoccupation with self to the exclusion of others. Selfishness is to people's lives and relationships and to our society what the BP oil rig disaster was to the Gulf Coast fishing industry.
The Greek word that we translate as "selfish" shares a root form with the words strife and contentious. No wonder the Bible says in James 3:16, "Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do cruel things."
What a contrast that verse is to the self-sharing, other-centered love of God we find in John 3:16 (CEV): "God so loved the world (loved us) that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won't perish but will have eternal life." Through Christ, we experience a love that fills us with peace, healing, wholeness and salvation.
Brian Welch experienced that love in such a powerful way one night that he threw all his drugs away and gave up his career so he could raise his daughter, Jennea, the right way. Perhaps the tattoo on his face is a reminder to him that the cure to selfishness is the love of God through Christ and a Christ-centered attitude that takes the "I" out of our eyes and replaces it with with Jesus.
"Don't do anything for selfish purposes but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. Instead of each person watch out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others." (Philippians 2:3-4 CEV)
Max Lucado says in his book, A Love Worth Giving, that looking after our personal interests is proper life management. When it the excludes the rest of the world, it's being selfish. Instead we are to adopt the attitude of Christ the mind of Christ. In our relationships with others, we are to think and act like him. Even though he had equal status with God, Jesus didn't think so much of himself that he clung to the advantages of his status. He didn't lit who he was stand in the way of loving us selflessly to the cross.
"Jesus, you got to take these drugs from me," Brian Welch desperately prayed. "Search me right now. Search my heart. You know I want to stop. Take them away. I can't do it on my own." And the love of God filled Brian and overflowed out of him to his daughter, changing their relationship and his life.
What's blocking the outward flow of God's love through us? What selfish behavior is controlling us and exluding others? Is it envy, apathy or greed? Is it unforgiveness or the desire to "get even?" Is it lust or pride or a need to be the center of attention? What part of self are we clinging to that is obstructing our vision of Christ, the needs of others and the peace and wholeness he has for us?
Are they really worth hanging on to? Then give them to Jesus
If you're interested in Brian Welch's complete story, go to www.iamsecond.com or I Am Second: Real Stories. Changing Lives by Dave Sterret and Doug Bender, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2013.
Philippians 2:3-5
For many of us, the name Brain "Head" Welch, may not be familiar. We wouldn't recognize his face, although our eyes might be drawn to a small tattoo of a cross and three tear drops just below the corner of his right eye. "Head," as his fans knew him, is a former member of the successful heavy metal band, Korn.
With fame came everything he could ever want -- the worship of adoring fans, money, cars and drug. But no matter how much he had, it wasn't enough. He wanted more and more to the detriment of his marriage, his daughter and even his own physical well-being.
His life was the very definition of selfishness: the preoccupation with self to the exclusion of others. Selfishness is to people's lives and relationships and to our society what the BP oil rig disaster was to the Gulf Coast fishing industry.
The Greek word that we translate as "selfish" shares a root form with the words strife and contentious. No wonder the Bible says in James 3:16, "Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do cruel things."
What a contrast that verse is to the self-sharing, other-centered love of God we find in John 3:16 (CEV): "God so loved the world (loved us) that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won't perish but will have eternal life." Through Christ, we experience a love that fills us with peace, healing, wholeness and salvation.
Brian Welch experienced that love in such a powerful way one night that he threw all his drugs away and gave up his career so he could raise his daughter, Jennea, the right way. Perhaps the tattoo on his face is a reminder to him that the cure to selfishness is the love of God through Christ and a Christ-centered attitude that takes the "I" out of our eyes and replaces it with with Jesus.
"Don't do anything for selfish purposes but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. Instead of each person watch out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others." (Philippians 2:3-4 CEV)
Max Lucado says in his book, A Love Worth Giving, that looking after our personal interests is proper life management. When it the excludes the rest of the world, it's being selfish. Instead we are to adopt the attitude of Christ the mind of Christ. In our relationships with others, we are to think and act like him. Even though he had equal status with God, Jesus didn't think so much of himself that he clung to the advantages of his status. He didn't lit who he was stand in the way of loving us selflessly to the cross.
"Jesus, you got to take these drugs from me," Brian Welch desperately prayed. "Search me right now. Search my heart. You know I want to stop. Take them away. I can't do it on my own." And the love of God filled Brian and overflowed out of him to his daughter, changing their relationship and his life.
What's blocking the outward flow of God's love through us? What selfish behavior is controlling us and exluding others? Is it envy, apathy or greed? Is it unforgiveness or the desire to "get even?" Is it lust or pride or a need to be the center of attention? What part of self are we clinging to that is obstructing our vision of Christ, the needs of others and the peace and wholeness he has for us?
Are they really worth hanging on to? Then give them to Jesus
If you're interested in Brian Welch's complete story, go to www.iamsecond.com or I Am Second: Real Stories. Changing Lives by Dave Sterret and Doug Bender, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2013.
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