A Year of Selflessness

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Colossians 3:12-13

I have a virtual friend who is in the process of giving another friend a most excellent gift. To some, what is being done may not seem like such a big thing, but to the intended recipient and the others of us who have the privilege of partaking of it - it is an extravagant gift of time and talent. It is a reminder that simple, selfless gifts bear witness to great love and compassion.

As I was thinking about this exceptional gift, I thought about how at the start of a new year we often stop to make resolutions for the year ahead. A search of the World Wide Web provides plenty of examples of the kinds of resolutions we tend to make, all of them good things and perhaps even necessary, but I noticed that many of them are self focused. I wondered what the year would look like if we were to make resolutions that were other focused instead?

What if we showed more kindness and compassion to those around us? What if we treated others with the kind of patience we would appreciate? What if we showed mercy and grace to those around us - not just our friends and family, but to the people on the fringe of society? What if the “sinners and tax collectors” of our modern culture actually saw the amazing love of Christ in how we treated them? 

The prophet Micah told Israel that what the Lord truly desired was that they “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with their God” (Micah 6:8). What if we resolved to do just that?

What kind of year would we have if we made it a year of selflessness? More importantly, what kind of year would those around us have? 

A Prayer
Father, thank you for the amazing grace and extravagant love you show us every day. As we begin this New Year give us hearts resolved to be selfless. May we be kind and patient, loving and compassionate to those around us, especially to those we might normally look right past. Help us to follow the example set for us by your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus. It is in His name that we pray, Amen.