"Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get." (Matthew 7:1-12, The Message)
Consideration for others is the key to success in my own life. It is easy to take the passage above and make it all about me and what I want others to do for me and say "here is the action I need to take so that what I want to happen to me will come about". The whole object is to get my way, not show love to another.
No, it seems to me that the emphasis is first on the needs of others, as God shows them to me, and then I can serve. I can say, "this is how I would want this to work out in my life" and then try to make it happen for them, my emphasis would be in the right place, on them.
It may be a fine line, but the key is who I put first in my actions. Will it be others who are the most important, or me?
If I look upon the face of God, do I see His mercy and grace toward me as a selfish act on His part, a means to an end, or as love, to give me the best life possible?
When I was still in sin, Christ died for me. His act came first, and His first thought was for me.
Can I live that way for others?
Oh, let it be so.
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