Quote from Forum Archives on March 23, 2011, 7:20 pm

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 3864 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!
Classic from 2003

03.23.11

I, Me, and Myself

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who
are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great
ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but
whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever
of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man
did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for
many." - Mark 10:42-45.

Larry Scherwitz, a psychologist, conducted a study on the relationship
between heart disease and self-centeredness. He studied 150 patients
hospitalized either for suspected heart disease or after a heart attack. He
kept track of how often they used the pronouns "I, me, my, mine, or myself."
He found that patients with more severe disease made far more references to
themselves. Also, the findings remained significant even when patients were
matched for age, blood pressure, cholesterol, and Type A behavior.
Scherwitz, in his study, found that people who are what he calls
"self-involved" have more severe coronary artery disease than those who are
more focused toward others.

It appears that there is scientific evidence that serving others is a very
healthy thing to do, and being concerned about others is a very healthy
attitude. On the other hand, being concerned only with yourself, your
interests, your activities, your plans ("I, me, my, mine, or myself.") is a
prescription for physical and spiritual disaster. If you want to do
something really good for yourself, stop thinking about yourself all the
time. Put the spotlight on the needs of other people and think about how you
can be a part of meeting those needs.

If you really want to follow Christ, if you really want to be like Christ,
then you will serve others; and not just yourself, and your interests. Jesus
gave us the ultimate example of being concerned about the needs of others.
Jesus did not just talk about meeting the needs of others. No, He
continually demonstrated how to meet the needs of others, as He went about
doing good, and was a servant to all He met. Jesus did not come to be
served, but to give His own life in sacrificial service. Jesus, the Lord of
lords, and the King of kings had a right to be served, but instead came to
serve us.

It has been said by many a doctor that the very best thing that you can do
for your physical health is to stop smoking. It may be that they will want
to add that ending your self-involvement could be just as important to your
physical health. Why not begin today to lift up your eyes from your own
life, to the lives of those around you, as you look for opportunities to
serve in obedience to your Lord.

Copyright © 2003-2011. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush
website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email
version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began
writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of these first
devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison
facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

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