ask yourself

The world wants you to think that everything is about you. That we should think only of ourselves but there is a greater purpose. God calls us all to a higher purpose to not only love but to love one another. Philippians 2: 3, 4 says "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." We're going to talk about, what is selfishness, how to be selfless to those around you, and how to enlarge your area of service.

Before we learn how to be selfless we must first find what selfishness is. Dictionary.com gives this definition: devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others. Today we live in a world that thinks that all that matters is me. We see it on a day to day basis with having to by pass all the couples making out on your way to the dorm or people skipping in line to get food at the caf. Or even going to walmart and seeing all the people who chew out customer service because they can't return their dust devil vacuum. People do what they feel. In an experiment done by John List, an economist at the University of Chicago a team of colleagues, showed that donations are less than magnanimous after all. Using controlled trials to compare different methods of door-to-door fund-raising, professor List's team discovered that it was much more effective to raise funds by selling lottery tickets than it was to raise funds by asking for money. Selfishness is spreading like an epidemic, but we can be the ones to change it. Now that we know what selfishness is let's take a look at what others are doing to change this fast spreading disease.

Mike King author of Learn This said "Something I believe is truly valuable in life is to reach out to others." Fact is that we are all selfish, but we have to choose to change it. Like being nice to the cafeteria servers and saying "thankyou." or turning around in line at KR's and meet a new face. Smiling at someone who you cross as you're walking on the promenade. Opening the door for someone and letting them go first. These are all things that you can do but let's take this a step further. Because at least for myself I can even fake being nice to my friends. We can put on that happy face for the friends but when it comes down to your family all the barriers come down. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upone you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samarian, and to the end of the earth." Jesus is saying that first we must be witnesses to our own, our family. Then to those who are friends, and then go to the end of the earth. So do something out of the ordinary. Write a post card to your dad or give a phone call to your grandma you haven't talked to in a while. Once you start reaching out to those you know you're not gonna want to stop there.

Ministries such as Bible Work Club which gives you the opportunity to tell someone about Jesus by giving a bible study. Patten Towers a ministry based in down-town Chattanooga where you can go and participate in being a friend to people who have low incomes. From going to the zoo with the residents to serving potluck at the church service there are tons of people who just need to see a smile. Grace In Action is similar to patten but it's an actual hotel that they are renting out at the moment. The owners, Penny and Tommy Peak, are really genuine and love when people come to volunteer their time. This is where I went for community service day and so much help is needed. From organizing a clothing shop to tutoring kids on their math homework there's an oppurtunity for anyone. Now your thinking that these are all nice things to do but you're too busy, or they're too far away but these are all coordinated by Southern students just like yourselves. You can make the time to go and get involved, which isn't that much when you compare it to eternity. If you don't like any of the options that I said, sadly there are plenty more places that need your help.

A short video........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA&eurl=http://palmowniy.blogspot.com/&feature=player_embeddedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA&eurl=http://palmowniy.blogspot.com/&feature=player_embedded

I just want to ask you......What would hinder you from being selfless?