“The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mt 23:11-12)
RATS!
No one ever said that following the Lord would be easy; but, you would think every so often He would give us some kind of break!
From the time we begin to interact with the world, we attempt to do all that we can to be the center of the universe. ME and MINE are the two loudest proclamations that we would make.
We tried to choose the games that we played. We tried to call the shots at the games we played. We changed the rules to make sure that we would win. We did not want anyone else to get his or her way.
And that was all in our first few years of life.
As we grew older, we became very competitive. We had to be the best student, the best sportsman, the best musician, the best singer, the best opponent. Quite simply, we had to be the best. Period. Exclamation point.
God help anyone that got in our way.
We are pretty much that same kind of people today.
Yet, in the Gospel today, Jesus tells us that we have gotten it all wrong.
If we want to be competitive and be considered the best, it should be in terms of being the best servant.
Get real.
Servant?!
I can practically guarantee you that was not what the Apostles and Disciples wanted to hear. I also can guarantee you that is not the message that we want to hear today.
Yet, there it is.
We need to quit worrying about dominating over others. We need to start worrying, more, about serving the needs of others. Because only then do we show the world that we are followers of the Lord, who was servant of all.
FAITH ACTION: We are a very competitive people. But Jesus tells us the greatest must by the one who serves best. Instead of looking for recognition, make an attempt to help someone in need while no one is watching.