Life is about other people. That is the essence of the Christian life, and it was demonstrated by Jesus himself. We are missionaries in this world, called to bless others in whatever way we can. This selflessness, however, has become deeply counter-intuitive for us, so we need to be quite deliberate about adopting this mindset. Our default setting, it seems, is to live life preoccupied by our own personal lifestyle goals. Most of us already have what we need, and some of us have far more than we need. And yet we still feel compelled to preoccupy ourselves with ‘feathering our own nest’. We invest ourselves in the perpetual pursuit of personal happiness, and yet this goal seems so elusive. The problem is that we were not made to live this way and therefore we will remain restless and empty as long as this mindset dominates our lives. Happiness is a by-product of living well. We were made to bless other people. We are responsible for one another and so long as we neglect this responsibility, we will suffer from a gnawing sense of futility and emptiness. As Viktor Frankl said: “People have enough to live by, but nothing to live for; they have the means but no meaning.” So, think today about who might need you. Is there someone you might have opportunity to bless? Ask God about this. Start to build this mindset into your life. Get used to thinking about others and about what positive impact you could have on the lives of others.
Prayerfully consider your responsibility to be a blessing to others.
Read Romans 15:1-13
