LIVING FOR OTHERS

St. Ignatius Loyola in his famous prayer once said;
''Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,save that of knowing that I do
your will''.
Man has been the most selfish creation have ever seen. A man once rightly said '' Most times when we are miserable it has been that we failed to help others, for if it has been that we have helped afore we would always find a hand stretchd towards us''.
Joyce Meyer also asserted that ''I'm convinced that the key to being miserable is selfishness'' and so we have been. In our own thinking we believe that success is when we accumulate wealth, when we are at the peak of the ladder looking down on others,when we order people around (as though been slaves). when we have more more compared to others. Our takes about life has been ''Just to acquire'' and ''Competing''. It has never occur to us, maybe it escaped our reasoning that life is not complete until we invest in the business called SERVICE.
Marion Wright Edelman purported that ''Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time''. What then stop us from living for others?. Its quite simple. We are made to believe that when we live for others:
* You will lose your freedom
* Others will manipulate and take advantage of you
* The only way to achieve anything worthwhile is to put ourself first.
* Others will surpass us
* Much of our time is being wasted. A n d
o n a n d o n.
And i would say these are true to some extent. The truth is when we are lost in the service for others thats when we would find ourselves.
A minister once said while facing the congregation ''Whenever i hear that a missionary is dead. The very question i did always ask my self is -WHO FAILED TO PRAY?''.
Meaning that for us to Live for others, we must do more than been compassionate, we must act, do more than live, we must give, do more than fasting,we must pray..Christ has laid the foundation. He sacrificed Himself. The bible said ''while we are yet sinners...Christ died for Us''(what other Service is greater than this). To this end,i want you to ask yourself these questions;
What would i be noted for?.
What impact am i making in others life?.
Can others boldly say ''if it weren't for Me?''.

I would like to leave you with this story.
A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash.
At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All, that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard him. They slowed down and looked back. They all turned around and went back. Every one of them. All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Because deep down we know this one thing: What matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What truly matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course.

Writer
Sayo Ademola.