Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. – Philippians 2:4
What if everyone actually did look out for the interests of others? What if we all treated each other as more important than ourselves?
Unfortunately we more often fall to our pride and selfishness. We have to “win” an argument, or “win” in having a bigger job or nicer things. We have to be just a little better than everyone else. We let our envy drive us to comparisons, or our jealousy takes us into foolish competitiveness.
Following Jesus means we leave that kind of thinking behind. This doesn’t mean we ignore our own needs. God says we still can look to our own interests, but we also consider other’s needs to be equally important. Our desire to come out on top is replaced by a desire to share. Our attentiveness turns from only ourselves, to looking for ways to help others. And as we do that we have learned an important part of loving one another—we see others as more important than ourselves. We live unselfishly!