“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” –Philippians 2:4, ESV
“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” -Luke 17:33
“We lose what on ourselves we spend,
We have, as treasures without end,
Whatever, Lord, to thee we lend,
Who givest all—who givest all.”
-“Giving to God,” Christopher Wordsworth (1807–85)
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”- Jim Elliot, October 28, 1949 http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/faq/20.htm
“Others, Lord, yes others,
Let this my motto be,
Help me to live for others,
That I may live like Thee.”
-Charles D. Meigs, 1917.
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/t/h/others.htm
“…the story is told of a missionary who loved her books. Some she gladly loaned, but others — her favorites — she kept stored in a footlocker under her bed. One night she heard a scratching sound. After searching, she discovered the noise was coming from her footlocker. When she opened it, she found an enormous pile of dust. Termites had destroyed her precious books. That which she had tried to keep for herself, now belonged to no one.” – More Precious Than Silver. Copyright © 1998 by Joni Eareckson Tada. http://www.joniandfriends.org/
What reactions or comments do you have on the thoughts reflected in these quotes? Feel free to submit questions for discussion.
Do we read of any place where the Lord sought for something just to please Himself, or did something simply for Himself?
What are examples of places where the Lord manifested what it was to live for others?