SoulShift: Me to You
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How is your soul?
How is your soul?
We began with this question last week!
Did anyone think about it?
Anyone want to share the journey that God has you on with soul discovery?
I am a profound thought today!
We are selfish!
We are selfish!
Due to the fallen nature of our sin, we are wired to think about ourselves!
We think about ourselves first and often!
I want to give you a quick test here to see if you are self-centered...
Do we:
We have a critical spirit. We think our ideas are better than someone else’s simply because they are ours
We look out of ourselves first. Look at a group photograph that you are in and ask yourself, “who do you look for first?” Why do you do that?
We have a low self-esteem. We think our appearance or performance is lower than that of others, in part because our standards for ourselves are higher than others.
We can’t forgive ourselves. Even when God has forgiven us, our own opinion is still more important.
We are competitive. To win is to prove that we are the better person. Losing is insufferable because it defies the image we have of ourselves.
We talk about ourselves all the time. We dominate the conversation, we talk over people. or use clever tactics like humor or cynicism to take control of the conversation.
We hold grudges. Over things that were done to us, but not someone else.
How did you do? Did you pass?
1/7 = 14%
2/7 = 29%
3/7 = 43%
4/7 = 57%
5/7 = 71%
6/7 = 86%
7/7 = 100%
Obviously, there are many ways to display our selfishness. This is just seven of those ways.
What areas in our life are you selfish?
How does that affect others?
In the scripture reading today we read about the disciples displaying their selfishness.
In this passage, we see two different focuses.
Jesus is focused on what was to come. He tells them
44 “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.”
The disciples couldn’t understand was Jesus was saying and so they dropped it.
They then began to argue…and what were they arguing?
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.
They were arguing which one of them was the greatest.
So, Jesus has just shared some important news about what was going to happen to him.
The disciples were too focused on their own concerns to think about or ask about what Jesus was referring to.
Instead, they were wondering who of them was the greatest.
A chapter later in Mark’s version we see another conversation:
32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with,
So again, for a third time, Jesus tells them that he was going to be killed.
They were on the road to the cross, when James and John decide that it is a good idea to ask if they can sit at the right and left of Christ.
The right and left were positions of glory and power.
Rather than being focused on what was about to happen to Jesus, they were focused on their own fame and glory.
The authors of SoulShift say this “The disciples were following Jesus, but they were wired another way. They were on the same road but in a different world.” - Steve DeNeff and David Drury
They were literally following Jesus, but they were still not completely transformed.
To be a disciple of Jesus, something has to shift within us.
We have to shift from Me to You!
We need to become outwardly focused.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
This is the challenge.
How many things do we do out of selfish ambition or vain conceit?
How many times do we simply value ourselves over other people?
Our natural inclination is ourself. We think of ourselves.
Jesus is different. He is shaped to think about others.
He is shaped to put the needs of others above his own needs.
So, the question is: How do we shift from Me to You?
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Jesus lays out the two greatest commandments.
To love God
To love others
Sometimes we focus soley on the first.
The second often falls way behind the first.
Interestingly, John writes
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
and
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
So, what John is writing here is that if we truly love God, then we will love other people.
We can’t claim to love God while not loving others.
So, to begin the shift from Me to You, we must understand that we are to love others.
What does this look like practically?
I am going to give you 4 quick steps to help us shift our focus.
1. Wake Up
1. Wake Up
From the moment that we are born, we are focused on ourselves.
We need to reminded that we are selfish. That we put ourselves above other people.
How many of you are a first born child with younger siblings?
Do you remember when your first sibling was born?
I don’t as I was a middle child, but I obviously have three children.
I remember what it was like for Tasia with Lacy was born.
She was super jealous.
She was no longer the baby.
There was a new baby, one tat took all of her attention.
It became reality for her that she no longer received all of mom and dad’s attention.
Or think about when you were first married.
Y’all remember those single days?
When you could basically do whatever you wanted whenever you wanted?
You could have your house as filthy as you wanted.....
You had the bed all to yourself....
Everything revolved around you!
And then....you fell madly in love with someone.
Eventually you got married.
At first, it was all good....I mean, this was the person that you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with!
Things were great.
But then, the honeymoon period wore off.
Eventually, things got real....
And then you realized something, it wasn’t just about you anymore.
Rather than cuddling with the love of your life, you were trying to push them off of the bed for stealing all of the covers.
You could not longer do whatever you wanted, because you had someone else to think about....
You could no longer keep the house as filthy as you wanted....
You had a wake up call that life wasn’t only about you!
But, you learned to adjust. Hopefully, you grew closer to your spouse.
And then something else happened.
Little people happened.
There were suddenly little people running around your house.
It wasn’t just about you and the love of your life anymore....now you had more responsibilities.
Another wake up call that things weren’t just about you anymore.
As a follower of Christ, we need a wake up call.
We need to understand how selfish we really are.
We need to acknowledge the issue in order to fix the issue.
2. Take an Interest in Others
2. Take an Interest in Others
It make seem simplistic to say that in order to be focused on others, we have to actually care about the interest of others.
Do you care about the people that you work with?
Do you know about them?
What is their favorite color?
What do they like to drink from Sonic?
Here are a couple of things to ask yourself:
When is the last time you celebrated what someone else has achieved?
Do you ask yourself what it is like to be someone else?
Do you ask yourself what other people need?
Taking an interest in people is a great step towards becoming others focused.
However, it still means that we are in charge.
We get to choose how much we know about others and what we do with that information.
So, the next step is:
3. Become a Servant
3. Become a Servant
When we become a servant, give up being in charge.
We now make ourselves vulnerable to the needs of others.
We are simply doing what the other person needs and not what we want anymore.
The greatest example of being a servant is found in:
John 13:1–17 (NIV)
1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
Jesus, though being the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, washed the feet of His disciples.
Philippians 2:3–8 (NIV)
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
We too, should have the same focus as Jesus and serve others.
To serve others sometimes means to do little things that are hidden and where there is no reward.
4. Carry Each Other’s Burdens
4. Carry Each Other’s Burdens
“There is not time when we are more like the Trinity than when we carry each other’s burdens and enter their lives.” - Steve DeNuff and David Drury
To carry someone’s burdens means to care about them. To walk with them. To serve them.
It means that we embrace their imperfections and bear their sins. We absorb their flaws and failures and still associate with them.
To minister to others means to dive into their mess of their lives!
We can live our lives in our own righteousness bubble where we don’t get any stink on us, but we will miss the greatest miracles!
If we truly want to see lives transformed, we have to be around messy people!
God does His greatest work on the fringes. Will you join Him?
To shift from Me to You means that we:
Wake Up and acknowledge our selfishness
Take and Interest in others
Become a servant
Carry each other’s burdens
Worship Team
I want to close with what I believe to be:
The Greatest Me to You Moment
The Greatest Me to You Moment
Jesus came. He taught. He loved. He healed. He was innocent. There was no fault in Him.
He lived to serve.
And yet, he was brutally murdered in the worst possible way in the roman culture.
And while He was hanging on the cross, there were 3 words that proved how selfless He was.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Father
Forgive
Them
As He was hanging on the cross…He was still thinking of others!
Could we say the same for us?
As we pray the next several weeks for God to work in our souls, let’s think about how selfish we are.
Let’s allow Him to shift us from Me to You! Amen.