Learning to be Selfless

This weekend, I had the joy of being in a wedding.  So from Wednesday until Saturday I was doing my best to serve the bride in whatever ways necessary.  From running her errands to hand feeding her a donut while her nails were being done, I was learning to serve in a new way.  Galatians 5:13 says, "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love."  This is how I was learning to serve, "humbly in love."  As a bridesmaid, I was asked to lay down my plans, thoughts, and ideas in order to serve and honor another.  Isn't that what God asks us to do?  God's Word also asks us to be eager to serve.  Our acts of service are so much more meaningful when we are doing them humbly, eagerly, and wholeheartedly.

Being selfless is not about serving alone.  It includes placing the needs of others before our own, thinking of others first, and daily denying ourselves so Christ and others may gain.  Matthew 16:24 gives evidence of this, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."  Even though denying ourselves will be very difficult at times, it is necessary if we truly want to follow and serve.

I was also able to experience selflessness this weekend from the other end, the receiving end.  I must first admit that by the time the wedding rolled around on Saturday, I was more than ready for it to be over.  All four days that I spent working on this wedding, I never got be bed before midnight and was usually awake by 6:00am.  That's not very much sleep!  We were trying to pull all the little details together, and we were exhausted!  Then just before the wedding started on Saturday, I had a surprise visit from a very special guy in my life.  He had driven five hours just to see me in a wedding.  He was definitely a breath of fresh air after all the wedding planning I had been doing.  His total trip ended up being around 11 or 12 hours long (in only one weekend). 

While this story about selflessness is different from most, there is not a person in this world who can tell me that giving up a weekend to drive 12 hours is not selfless.  I was truly blessed by this genuine act.  When we are genuinely selfless with others, they are truly blessed as well.  Time is the most valuable thing we can give.  So, let's give it to our great God and to others.  

"He answered,  'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  Luke 10:27