BBD 11.07.03 I, Me, and Myself
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
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11.07.03
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 and being
concerned about others is a very healthy activity and 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
demonstrated how to meet the needs of others continually as He went about
doing good being 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 our self-involvement could be just as important to our
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. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
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