Daily Delight
"He must become greater; I must become less." -John 3:3 (NIV)
I remember listening to the leader of a Christian worship band explain that each time he walked onto the stage, he would see himself as a silhouette rather than an actual person. He would ask himself, "would you still do what you are doing if people didn't know who you were?" This hit home. Earlier that week I had been at Uni and walked past a girl who was hunched over struggling to pick up all of her photography equipment. I stopped and asked if she needed some help. She looked up with a relieved smile and took up my offer. As I carried her tripod and a bag to her classroom, the situation sparked a conversation between the two of us. Here's the thing though: as I was initially helping the girl, my train of thought wandered toward the idea that others walking by would potentially see me doing a good deed. Would others notice? Someone, please, kick me.
As humans, we naturally seek validation from others. Rather than merely doing good things for the heck of it, we often fall into the trap of doing good things and wanting something in return. But newsflash - that's not how Jesus lived. He lived His entire life showing random acts of kindness to everyone He came in contact with. And the most important part? Not once did He stop to consider whether others were taking notice. He did good things, simply because they were good things. So this is my challenge for all of us women: let's be silhouettes. In everything that we do, let's stop glorifying ourselves and glorify God. "Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him" (Romans 8:7-9, MSG).
It all comes down to our intention.
Less of us and more of Him.
Jessica Shipton≫ ≫ Jessica is a twenty-year old student in her third and final year at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia. She is studying a Bachelor of Communication, completing a double major in Digital & Social Media and Public Communications (Advertising).
Jessica enjoys traveling and holds a passion for God, people and writing. Her personal blog is where these three things combine to create something special in an attempt to inspire, encourage and bless others. You can find it here!