Forgetting, Serving, and Growing

It was great to see all of you this morning. I want you to know how much you are appreciated. Quite simply, Marathon would not work without your dedication and service.

Brad Williams and I were talking the other night about how we tend to live our lives in a self-centered fashion. I told him that sometimes when I stop to think about it, I realize that I've been living as if life were a book all about me, and everyone else is just smaller characters in the book that were written in to give it more color.

People who become self-centered lose contact with the outside world. They spend all of their time and energy worrying about bills, friends, work, or even play. If we were to take the time to stop all of that, we could see that it's a big world out there - and it reflects the character of God.

The wonderful thing about service at Marathon, is that it allows us to forget about those things once in a while, and allow ourselves to become involved in the lives of people who have equally bad situations, to our own. To open up, look outside of our tiny little worlds, and let other people matter.

When we take a bigger view of things, God will give us more of His Grace and Love to share with others. We'll find ourselves responding to their needs; we'll find ourselves angered by injustice to others, and perhaps we'll even be moved enough to do something about it.

Self esteem is overrated. Christ never asked us to esteem ourselves. I think that if Christ were asked, He might say that it would be a wonderful thing if we forgot ourselves.

Christianity isn't about being self-sacrificing - it's about being self-forgetting. Forget yourself once in a while, and open your eyes. Focus on this big, beautiful world God has made. As you walk around, learn to identify some of the plants that you pass. At night, learn to identify every constellation in the sky. Get to know birds by their feathers, flight patterns and songs. Introduce yourself to your neighbors, or the lady you're in line with at Bi-Lo. It really is a big world out there - and it really does reflect the character of God. Let go of yourself - and God will show you a whole new world.

Be God's!

Robert