For Their Sake

For today’s Mind Change Moment I have asked my wife, Sheila, to share a thought from her book entitled  My Bucket of Sand.

Do you have special and clear memories of Bible studies that you did years ago? A verse or a phrase that was emblazoned on your consciousness, to stay for a lifetime?

One such study for me was in the book of 1 Thessalonians…thirty years ago. I can see myself in the house with the 70s kitchen, complete with harvest gold appliances—the house that I almost burned down by leaving oil heating on the stove in anticipation of frying some breaded shrimp.

The sentence that has lodged with me all these years is at the end of verse 5 from chapter 1: “You know how we lived among you for your sake.”Paul’s heart called me higher. How natural it is to live among others, and be more aware of ourselves than of them. How unnatural it is to be more aware of them than of ourselves. It is the “unnatural” that is also the “spiritual.”

Paul lived among the people for their sake, not for his own. He was focused on what was good for them, not what was good for him. He sacrificed his life to make theirs richer.

Do I live among my family for their sake? Do I live among my neighbors for their sake? Do I live among my coworkers for their sake? Do I live among my brothers and sisters in the church for their sake?

I want that heart. I want to live among others for their sake. What a blessing that will be to their lives…and to my own.

Focus Scripture:

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 1:4–6)