People Care About Themselves — Not You
People think others are gon put them above themselves?
I doubt it. Not consistently.
I’ve never seen anyone do that consistently outside of Jesus. Period.
Nobody cares about you more than they care about themselves…
The quicker that is learned, the better.
This is a tough thing to teach though.
It’s something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about — especially as my younger sister is about to graduate high school in June of 2020.
When I decided to pursue my MBA, I knew that I would also graduate again in 2020… a month before her.
She mentioned to me that she feels, “I’m stealing her thunder.”
I had to share a difficult truth… everyone’s world revolves around THEM.
That’s it.
Anything can become a positive situation. God calls us to do 3 things.
I don’t see people living in a way that gives consideration at a deeper level to others.
People want what they want… period.
If they want to go outside on Saturday… you better get on board or they’ll find someone else to go with, right?
What about restaurants? People ask what type of food you’re hungry for but internally have a preference in mind — at least generally speaking.
Especially if people are picky eaters it’s tough to go to a restaurant that you’ll actually enjoy.
People don’t care about you as much as they care about themselves. And that’s a tough pill to swallow…
If we have Jesus in our hearts, we should live for others and love others as ourselves — others should see that visibly.
Remember what Jesus taught? The two greatest commandments are what?
Love God and love others as yourself.
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” — Matthew 22:37–40 NIV
How do you love others as yourself if you don’t love yourself first? You can’t.
But how do you love others as yourself if you only do what you want? You can’t.
The difficult truth is that the majority of people will NOT live in a way that values you above themselves, because they don’t see the benefit!
Little do they know that the benefit and the value is not in this world but in the next.
It’s not for today.
It’s not for tomorrow.
It’s not for this year.
It’s not even for this lifetime.
It’s for eternity.
“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” — Proverbs 27:19 NIV
The hard truth is also this, if Jesus is in our hearts — our life REFLECTS that.
And if our life doesn’t? We should be challenged to spend time in prayer and reflection and meditation and understand what we stand for.
Because, if we have Jesus in our hearts, we should live for others and love others as ourselves — which means sacrificing our own preferences for the benefit of others.