Being Others Focused

You ever have a bad day? I had one of those yesterday.

With way too much dependence on my self and my own ability to control things, I ended my day joyless, exhausted, and with a restless heart.

This morning, the Lord's Spirit has nudged me through God's Word about my extreme self-centeredness that welled up in all that.

And while there are several things I need to repent of, it became crystal clear that I needed to focus on Jesus and others before my self. That comes with a ton of implications, but as I sat down to write Top of Mind Monday, thought about our time together and sifted through pictures that Mike took, it brought me to tears as I realized how selfless so many of you all are in service to Christ Community Church.

Your leadership reminded me of 3 ways I (and we) can be more others focused.

Prioritize them.

I'm deeply reminded today that often times the greatest way to prioritize others is to live an ordered life myself so that I'm more present and available. So many of you order your lives so you can be here early to lead worship, or do our best to be ready in the ever changing and almost complete preschool space, or invest in students who are growing into leadership roles where they preach and lead worship, or even financially, by living on a budget so that you can give generously!

You all inspire me to prioritize others in the way that God's Word calls us to in Philippians 2:3. "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves."

Pray for them

Whether it was Daniel praying for the ladies returning from Chile, or the amazing reality of answered prayer in having Ashley back at church, or the reminder from my Community Group that sometimes the most powerful thing we can do in the Spirit is pray "help me," I was called back to a more intimate prayer life for our church body yesterday.

So here's a prayer I'm praying for our church family this week:

Spirit,

You know each person of our church completely. And you can search the depths of God and speak to them through God's Word the precise truth they need.

Would you do it?

Spirit of God, comfort the afflicted, convict the comfortable, and give us the mind of Christ.

Amen.

Provide for them

I'm so impressed by our young people's efforts to gather food for the Backpack Project! And I'm humbled by several of you who are thinking about ways to look out for your neighbors and those in need as we face the uncertainty of government benefits in the coming days. I confess, many days I'm so consumed by what my family and I need that I'm not considering how I might provide for others. I'm thankful for a generous church family that calls me back into providing for others out of the abundance God has blessed us with.