Blinded By The Unseen- Trading Selfishness in for True Love

Have you ever experienced the gut wrenching feeling of having someone kindly trying to explain to you the hard truth of the way that you’ve been acting? Yep. That’s me. I believe that sometimes God speaks to us through people that love us the most and it can be such a blessing if we allow them to explain to us openly of what they see. I, however, have struggled with this in my life. I am one of those. I don’t really like people telling me what I am or what I am not. And I like to think I know pretty much everything. *cringe* But as all of us humans find out, we don’t. I don’t. It’s been in these last few weeks that I’ve realized my humanity more than ever. Life’s trials have a way of showing us the most selfish parts of us that we didn’t see before and  that’s why he sends people to our lives to give us a slap of realization. 

I’m really selfish. 

Thank you, Jesus for at least letting me find out now and not later! I think all of us to a certain extent know that as humans on this earth we can be selfish. But to really have someone show you some areas where you’ve been self seeking, it’s pretty eye opening. The Lord brought to my mind of Jesus on the cross. He is the ultimate example of humility and dying to self. Before he hung on the tree for our sins, there was a place in the garden where he (in the flesh) did not want to do it. But because he had true genuine love for his father and us, he chose the path of humility and suffered great pain and hurt. That is true sacrificial love. 

In the world we live in today, people identify love as something (again) that is self seeking or that is tangled around in something called emotions or feelings. 

“I don’t FEEL like going to the person that did me wrong and stretching my hand out to them in brotherly kindness” 

“I don’t FEEL like apologizing for what I did because I truly FEEL mad.” 

“I don’t FEEL like putting in the effort to help this person FEEL love because they didn’t make me FEEL loved so why should I?” 

“I’m going through a lot and I don’t really have the energy or FEEL like actively loving them the way they desire from me.” 

Do these sound familiar? I think all of us at one point have thought these things. Don’t get me wrong. God created emotions just as much as he created the hairs on our head. There is a purpose for feeling emotions in our life but they should not be the ground on which we should be standing on if we want to be grounded in true love- God’s love. And it’s so easy to make decisions on our emotions or our flesh, but the Bible clearly states on what the outcome will be if we decide to lean toward our natural emotions. 

“ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” Romans 8:13 ESV

Nothing good will come of basing our life on our emotions. Like it says, life is found by dying to our emotions and earthly body and walking in the Spirit. Jesus and many others in the Bible knew the importance of dying to self. If we live in a world where everything is about us, there is no room for God and his love either. 

There is another part of it that I realized in myself that I did not have. Grit. It takes true grit and strength to give up self, because you have the enemy coming at you with full force telling you to give into self pity, pride, laziness, fear, insecurity or anything else that is all naturally human. 

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 

I used to think of this in a literal way, but now I see the beauty of this verse for what it truly is. Greater true genuine love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his desires, his flesh, his pride... for his friends. And not just his friends- but God. When we humbly submit to God’s plan for our lives and his way, it will give us a boost of energy to be humble before our fellow man. 

Lord, help me realize it’s not just about me. It’s about shining your light through me that I may love or encourage those around me- to serve. 

Please pray for me as I strive to follow the path of humility and that God would lead me on to higher ground. 

~Natalie