“Your greatness is not what you have, but in what you give.” ~
To a very large segment of the population, greatness has been, and probably always will be, measured by the accumulation of “stuff”. Sometimes, the stuff is material. Other times, the stuff is ethereal. We want material goods but we also want praise, honor, respect, and the like. One of the first things Jesus confronted when He began teaching His disciples was that the accumulation of things was not where it was at. Service was where it was at. He told His followers that the greatest among them would be the one who served the best.
That message is just as important for us to hear today as it was when it was first proclaimed. Sadly, that message is pretty much just as ignored today as it was back then. The reason for that is because the message goes against our sinful human nature. As humans, we want to see, feel, and touch. If we cannot see an accumulated amount of things, we feel unsuccessful. God forbid that someone should have more stuff than us.
Children begin that cycle very early on when they try to make sure that they get more presents than their siblings at Christmas, more prizes and accolades at school than their classmates, more attention from teachers and parents. As long as they are in the spotlight, they feel that everything is okay. When someone else gets more things or more praise, arguments and fights can break out.
We need to get away from that cycle. We need to focus less on what we have and more on what we do. When we die, God is going to ask us about others, not about ourselves. He is going to ask us who we helped, for whom we provided, what we gave. He is not going to ask how many awards we received or how much attention we garnered.
Our Baptism was an immersion into the challenge to serve. If we truly want to be the best, we need to get busy and start serving others. What will you do for someone else this day?
FAITH ACTION: Give freely, lavishly, and lovingly today.