| The Selfish Monster Inside |
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Luke 10 Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
The majority of our problems in our life stem from selfishness. . Did you know the number one Root Cause to all Sin is; Selfishness. It is the root to all problems, we many times cannot give up our own 'self or flesh' desires to what God or Jesus Christ would like for us to do. We want what we want, when we want it, and we convince ourselves that we deserve what we want, when we want it and we don’t have time for anyone or anything else. Especially those who aren’t focused on our wants, needs and desires.
When was the last time you cared enough to care…meaning you noticed someone or some thing that needed help and you took your eyes and mind off yourself long enough to reach out your hand to help.
There is a story about a many who died and went to heaven, he was greeted at the gates and escorted in. His escort took him to a beautiful huge house and said this is your new home. The man was astonished; he was pleasantly shocked that he would be spending eternity in something so amazing and so beautiful. He noticed however that there was a separate building behind the house, what looked like a warehouse, he asked his escort what it was, and his escort quickly told him “you don’t want to know”. He said “yes, please tell me”, so the escort said “I will show you”. He took him to the building, opened the large front doors of the 2 story warehouse and it was filled with hundreds and hundreds of boxes from the floor all the way to the ceiling. On the side of the each box it read Blessings, the man gasped and said “I don’t understand”, his escort told him,” this half of the building is filled with the Blessing you never asked for, and the other half is filled with the blessings that you passed up when you refused to help others. You did nothing to deserve them”. As the man looked at ALL the boxes it struck him like a ton of bricks, he suddenly realized the magnitude of what he had missed out on.
So many times in our lives God tries to use us, he sends countless signs, countless people, countless situations in our path but we are SO busy and SO caught up in our own lives, SO focused on ourselves, that we miss out, time and time again. The reality is you can’t out give God, when you give of yourself, when your focus is on others, when you put others before yourself, God WILL bless you.
What should you do? Stop listening to the world around you that tries to convince you that it’s all about you, stop listening to Satan who desperately wants to convince you that you Your #1” and that you need to put yourself first at ALL times. Stop and realize that when you turn your back on people and situations you not only turn your back on God but you actually limit Gods blessings.
Be willing to care enough to care. Open your eyes everyday and see how God is trying to use you. Stop focusing on yourself and realize that when you are so wrapped up in yourself it damages every aspect of your life. Don’t be like the man in the story, don’t miss out on Gods blessings in your life.
Tim Carlisle
