CHRIST LIKE SELFLESSNESS – MARK OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN

Phil 2:3-5
'Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:’

The above quotation from Paul’s letter to the brethren in Philippi underscores what the mind of Christ for Christians really is: The entire Christian experience should be one of continued acts of selflessness. This attribute took our Lord and savior Jesus Christ to the cross to die for our sins and we also are enjoined to 'deny self daily while following the lord’ (Luke 9:23)

Selflessness is defined by the free dictionary as 'Having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself’.It’s simply the opposite of selfishness which revolves round the unholy mix of me, myself and i.Selflessness works towards the general good before thinking of oneself. It is closely related to Altruism and Self-sacrifice. A selfless Christian does not seek to be known, praised or rewarded for the good he does because he doesn’t glory in the flesh. All he wishes is for Christ to be seen and glorified in his attitude and actions which when faithfully executed, will 'draw all men unto the Lord’ (John 12:32).

Selflessness must be seen in our attitude and actions if we are to proclaim the testimony of the finished work of the cross. This is because a natural consequence of the truly surrendered spirit led life is selflessness. The mind of Christ is selflessness so can we claim we have Christ if this attribute is not in us? The world isn’t stupid you know. We’ll surely be found out as pretenders no matter how much we scream our allegiance to Christ if this attribute is lost in our day to day activities. We should do well to take heed to Peter’s advice in 1Pet 2:12.

As human beings born into this world, we’re all selfish by nature. We’re born with a sinful nature that daily bows before the deity called self and until we acknowledge the crucifixion of the Adamic nature, we’ll continue to struggle with selfishness. We live in a me first world which constantly pushes us to satisfy self even at the expense and in total disregard of others and consciously or unconsciously, we see selfishness creep into our secular and spiritual pursuits. Have you noticed how works of charity in our modern world have become opportunities for self promotion? How about those mega church buildings we erect or fanciful state of the art gadgets and machinery we invest so much offerings of the faithful on? ostensibly to ‘the glory of the Lord’? Doesn’t it look more like we are only seeking a date with the compilers of the Guinness book of world records or a flattering mention in the media? Even our individual testimonies are almost delivered with the intention of shaming that our brother or sister in the Lord who doesn’t yet realize that ‘only a life lived like ours’ qualify for that magnificent financial favor much like the Pharisee of Luke 18:10-14.

Romans 8:14 says ‘for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God’ .Can we honestly affirm that the motives for our acts of ‘good’ are leadings of the Spirit? Or are they leadings of the flesh tailored to make us feel good and superior? We must act differently from the world around us if we are to actually show ourselves as children of the heavenly kingdom. Selflessness must be the watchword in our dealings with everybody – Christians and non Christians alike. Opportunities to mentor babes in Christ should be for the benefit of helping a young Christian grow in grace not to advertise our erudition or gargantuan spiritual depth and understanding. When trying to ‘correct’ an erring brother/sister, their ultimate good must be paramount in our mind. Even more careful should we be when trying to show a sinner the pathway to life else we might alienate them and make them more hardened.

Selflessness will make us willingly give up comforts so our neighbor can have little of what God has blessed us with(1John 3:17).It will make us think twice before abusing a position of responsibility entrusted to us in the Church of God, public service or business. Selflessness will make Church leaders promote the gospel more than they promote themselves and their denominations. It will make us allocate Church resources more to places where it will benefit the Church(you and i) in line with Acts 2:45 and 1 Cor 16:1 rather than projects which massage our ego and buttress our vanity.Our sub groups in Church will be more effective because we all are more concerned about the greater good than individual points. Only then will the purpose of Heb 10:25 be accomplished.

Let us not be moved by the promise of instant gratification of the self to destroy the good work God has called us to do. We’ll be more effective carriers of the good news of the gospel if our individual lives become examples of selflessness.

We should heed B.B McKinney, the song writer who wrote the hymn ‘let others see Jesus in you’. the chorus is reproduced below

Let others see Jesus in you, Let others see Jesus in you.
Keep telling the story, be faithful and true:
Let others see Jesus in you

God bless you richly.

Thumbs up candour. Amazing article. Please keep them coming. God bless

@Candour, Thanks so much for this article. It is really thought-provoking, action-oriented. May the Lord increase you more in the knowledge of Him and help you also to apply it to your life.

frmglorytoglory: Thumbs up candour. Amazing article. Please keep them coming. God bless

Dear sister,Thanks.Glad you found it amazing and i hope it really blesses you and help you to a more fulfilling walk with the Lord.

Cheers and God bless

Alwaystrue: @Candour, Thanks so much for this article. It is really thought-provoking, action-oriented. May the Lord increase you more in the knowledge of Him and help you also to apply it to your life.

dear sister,you know you're always blessed

Thanks for your prayer @the bolded.It is what i crave the most.I pray everyday that God almighty gives me the grace to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith i have been called(Eph 4:1)

God bless you richly

Candour:

Let others see Jesus in you, Let others see Jesus in you.
Keep telling the story, be faithful and true:
Let others see Jesus in you

SWEET!

Mr anony:
SWEET!

yeah!! found the hymn sweet and loaded too

Another fantastic article brother Candour. It's quite a charge to be able to be selfless 100% of the time. I'm sure we all are to some degree but to completely put on the cloak of Christ at all times...may God in His mercy empower us. Amen!

Ps hope you've been well. Wish we read more from you on here. Godbless!!!

Love this

JeSoul: Another fantastic article brother Candour. It's quite a charge to be able to be selfless 100% of the time. I'm sure we all are to some degree but to completely put on the cloak of Christ at all times...may God in His mercy empower us. Amen!

Ps hope you've been well. Wish we read more from you on here. Godbless!!!

God bless you dear sister.Thanks a lot for your comment.

As long as we are in this body of flesh,the enemy will always want to stir up the Adamic nature to nullify the work of the Holy Spirit in us but we are not to give place to the devil.I will be lying if i say i'm 100% compliant but with God's grace the world can actually get the gospel just by observing the lives of Christians and that is the aim of this post.

@the bolded.It's almost like you have the gift of clairvoyance.I've been under the weather lately but am getting stronger.I will try to be more active henceforth God helping me.

Cheers sister and wish you the best

damiso: Love this

you're welcome sister.i hope it blessed you greatly

cheers

Candour:

God bless you dear sister.Thanks a lot for your comment.

As long as we are in this body of flesh,the enemy will always want to stir up the Adamic nature to nullify the work of the Holy Spirit in us but we are not to give place to the devil.I will be lying if i say i'm 100% compliant but with God's grace the world can actually get the gospel just by observing the lives of Christians and that is the aim of this post.

This is a very key point that we should keep in mind. Leaving room for recognition that on this side of eternity we will fall short, but praise God! He is faithful to complete the good work He began in us.

@the bolded.It's almost like you have the gift of clairvoyance.I've been under the weather lately but am getting stronger.I will try to be more active henceforth God helping me.

Cheers sister and wish you the best

I have the gift of unquenchable love for those of my Father's household ...your spirit is undeniable hence one of the few people I follow on NL cos I don't want to miss your very enriching and encouraging and challenging topics. I pray for God's strength to complete your healing and strengthen you fully. By God's grace you are healed and charged to post more and more edifying posts . Godbless my brother!

JeSoul: This is a very key point that we should keep in mind. Leaving room for recognition that on this side of eternity we will fall short, but praise God! He is faithful to complete the good work He began in us.

Very true.The day a Christian realises this truth is the day he gets set free from the yoke Jesus talked about in Matt 11:28-30.He has promised not to leave us nor forsake us.praise God indeed for he is faithful and his mercies endure for ever.halleluyah!!!

I have the gift of unquenchable love for those of my Father's household ...your spirit is undeniable hence one of the few people I follow on NL cos I don't want to miss your very enriching and encouraging and challenging topics. I pray for God's strength to complete your healing and strengthen you fully. By God's grace you are healed and charged to post more and more edifying posts . Godbless my brother!

hmmm.......my sister,this your encouraging words no be here o.Maybe i should even laminate it God bless you greatly.indeed i'm healed.Thanks a lot.I pray for God's grace to be more consistent in my postings but more importantly to put up posts that will truly edify members of the body of Christ on Nairaland.

Wish you the best sister.