Put yourself last!
—That's How to be Truly Happy
Putting yourself last is a key to happiness. I hear you say, “Put myself last? Are you crazy? Put myself last! Ha! You are crazy!” No I'm not.
People who put themselves first are not happy people. The idea of achieving happiness by putting yourself last seems paradoxical. But it is true wisdom from God.
1 Put Jesus First
- Give to Jesus the pre-eminence or first place in everything
- "He is also the head of the body, the church; and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that he might come to have first place in everything" (Colossians 1:18).
- "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things [food and clothing] will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
2 Put Others Second
- Make sacrifices for others humbly putting their needs before your own.
- "With humility of mind... esteem others as more important than yourself" (Philippians 2:3-6).
- "Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind... esteem others as more important than yourself. Don't look out just for your own interests, but also for the needs of others. Have this attitude in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:3-5).
- "Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church... As the church is subject to Christ so also let wives be to their husbands in everything." (Ephesians 5:21-24).
- "Husbands love your wives as Christ also loved his church and gave himself up for her... So husbands should love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself" (Ephesians 5:225-28).
- "Love does not seek its own" (1Corinthians 13:4-5).
- You are subject to the one you love, self-sacrificing, putting that person’s interests before your own.
3 Put Yourself Last
- This was the attitude of Christ who emptied himself taking the form of a servant.
- "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. Although he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God something to cling to. He emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, made in the likeness of men... He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:5-8).
- Jesus said, "The last shall be first and the first shall be last... Whoever wishes to be first among you, shall be your slave. Be like the Son of Man who did not come to be served, but to serve; and to give his soul a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:16,27-28).
Summary
Jesus, Others, Yourself.
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