Do you want to know what the biggest threat to integrity is?
It’s selfishness.
When I am focused on me, and me alone, my integrity takes a hit.
But when I am focused on others, when I am living a selfless life, integrity can flourish.
The reason for this is simple. Jesus made a statement that we have referred to as the Golden Rule: Do to others the way you’d like them to do to you. We are called to treat others the way that we want to be treated. We are to live relating to others as we’d like them to relate to us.
This is never more true than in the home. The way we treat our wives and our kids sets the example for the way they will treat people. Men who treat their wives poorly are teaching their sons to treat their wives the same way one day. Or teaching their daughters to seek men who won’t treat them any better.
The problem is, we reverse the Golden Rule. We treat others based on the way that they’ve treated us. This is a small shift, but a significant one. It gets the cart before the horse.
Rather than basing our behavior upon that of others, Jesus expects us to make the first move, and respect others.
This is the root of selflessness.
Paul put it like this in Philippians 2:4-5:
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
The truth is, we are drawn to those who selflessly give of themselves. Those who live fully for others, who love and give generously, find a type of fulfillment that extends beyond anything we could seek for ourselves. They find a fulfillment that is established in their very heart and soul.
We long to be around people like that. We long to be people like that.
So where do we start? By putting others first.
Selflessness. Pursue it in your own life. And teach it to your kids.
Be deliberate, Dad!
How do your keep yourself out of the spotlight in your own life How do you live selfless? You can leave your thoughts in the comments by clicking here.