Get Out of That Box!

 She called the other day. I hadn't heard from her, nor had I called her for several months. She asked, "What is new with you?' I started to respond, when into my conversation she picked a part that she immediately responded to. "Oh yeah, I understand..." And she... ignoring the rest of what I was saying, she went on to tell me about her life and what was going on in it.

She had just made me feel like she really didn't care about what I had been doing. She just wanted to tell me about her life. And as she went on and on I sat silently listening to her.

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Has the above ever happened to you? Have you ever been the one that had rudely interrupted someone when they were telling you something that was important to them?

Most of us have been there at one time or another. We can get so concerned with what is going in our lives that we give little thought to what is happening in someone else's life.

I want to share with you today, something about how we can live in our own selfish boxes, unable or unwilling to think about other people and what they might be going through.  Read on....

Get Out of Yourself!

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Years ago while traveling with a friend, I received some tragic news and began crying in the airport. My traveling companion patted my arm, said, "It will be fine," and ran off to buy a snack for the trip. The rest of the trip she talked about things happening in her life and never asked about my situation.

Sometimes God gives us extremely bad examples so we'll recognize our own selfishness and be more sensitive when faced with similar situations.

I admit that I have sometimes talked when I should have listened. I've sometimes ignored signs of stress in my friends' lives. I've sometimes climbed into a box where I could only see things from my perspective.

Retired seniors envy the family life of young parents while busy parents envy the free time of the seniors. Children tend to envy the independence of adults while adults envy the carefree life of a child. It's easy to become so narrow-minded that we forget the challenges and hardships of others.

George Washington Carver, American inventor and educator who was born a slave, refused to live inside a box of selfishness or self-pity even though he had plenty of reasons to do so

Instead, he said,“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.”(1)

Carver's advice is biblical: 

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4

Even if one of our relationships involves warning or correction, we can do it lovingly and patiently if we take our focus off ourselves. 

"We urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone." 1 Thessalonians 5:14

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I think this is so true. We sometimes think our lives are so important or maybe even so interesting, that we forget about those around us that have important things going on in their lives as well. Some may even be struggling and need to talk. Some may just be excited about something that is happening or has happened to them. 

Back a couple years ago when the group Black Lives Matter, got popular, and they were very vocal in letting us know that even in public places.  We were talking to a pastor one day and this is what he told us.

He had been in a grocery store and a black woman came up to him and said, that Black Lives Matter! in a very venomous way. 

This pastor is one of the most calm, soft speaking people I have ever known. He just has a special love for people. And he said to her, "All lives matter." in a gentle voice.

And it's true. Black, white, all colors. We all matter to God because He has created us all. And while we live in our world, we should not exclude others by ignoring what is going on in their lives.

Life is not just all about us. Even when we think it is. We matter to God, yes.

But so do all of those around us. And they should matter to us as well.

So if you are in a box of selfishness, get out of it. And show someone else you care. And also, more importantly, that Jesus cares, as well. 

Thanks for coming today, Friends. God bless!