The Toddler’s Creed

By Al Behel

    Children are special people... especially toddlers. They have a rather unique view of the world. Someone has shared this insight into their thinking, called, “The Toddler’s Creed”:

If I want it, it’s, mine.

If I give it to you and change my mind later, it’s mine.

If I can take it away from you, it’s mine.

If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.

If it’s mine, it will never belong to anyone else, no matter what.

If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.

If it looks just like mine, it’s mine.

    Every parent of a toddler knows that this is an accurate description of the world as they see it. While we expect this self-centered trait in toddlers, we find it very repulsive in older children and adults.

    Many people live almost exclusively for themselves. Extreme self-interest is called “narcissism.” The narcissist thinks the world should evolve around them...everyone should focus on them, elevate them, cower to their wants and demands, and yield to their emotional manipulations.

    Self is at the center of all sin. There is no room on the throne for Christ as long as self is king. Dying to self is essential to serving Christ. The apostle Paul taught that we should “count others better” than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

    Sadly, toddlers are not the only ones who suffer from self-centeredness.

Our culture worships at the alter of self. Our insatiable demand for fun, entertainment, and comfort leaves us approaching almost every issue with thoughts of how we are affected, not what effect our choices may have on others. Narissictic Christianity is not Christ-centered, but is self-centered, and will ultimately destroy itself. 

- Al Behel preaches for the Great Smoky Mountains Church of Christ in Pigeon Forge, TN. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://greatsmokymountainschurchofchrist.com/

Attachment to “Stuff”

By Lance Cordle

    I must make a confession—I enjoy watching American Pickers on the History Channel. The adventures of Mike Wolf and Frank Fritz, have captured my attention numerous times in the past three or four years. Even though I turn away from most “reality shows,” and even though I know some of the show’s elements are set-up, I am drawn in by the pursuit of historical things and the bargains Mike and Frank find.
    Week after week, they encounter people who are in possession of “stuff” they have collected for years. The meeting with the “pickers” may come by apparent chance, by solicitation, or by a call going out following the death of loved one. The latter circumstance being the result of a decision to mark the passing of a time of life, as well as the person who was part of the time of life.
    In a recent commercial for American Pickers, Mike Wolf expressed his own fascination with the people they meet and their attachment to “inanimate objects” (i.e., “stuff”). Indeed, as I watch some of the interchanges between the “pickers” and the collectors, I see the clear hesitation, and even refusal to part with some item because of the emotional attachment to that object on the part of the collector.
    As I think about the pickers and the collectors they meet, I am well aware of three things. First, I am very aware of the ease of becoming attached to things. If we pay a high price for something, or if someone we value highly owned that object, we may become very possessive of it. Value of money spent and value of relationships cause us to want to hold on to things. We must remember that things are capable of being destroyed in a moment and will eventually “wear out” or “rust out.”
    Secondly, I am aware the Bible warns me that I am not to love or trust in things. Jesus himself said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19, 20).
    Finally, we must remember we cannot take things with us when we die. No matter how good it makes us feel to place objects with bodies, in caskets, we must not deceive ourselves into thinking those things will be used by them again. Paul reminded his friend, Timothy (and thus us, as well), “for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world” (1 Timothy 6:7).
    Let us be discerning in the things we buy and the things we receive. Let us take care to not become attached to “stuff.” Because, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).

- Lance Cordle preaches the Calvert City Church of Christ in Calvert City, KY.  He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.calvertchurchofchrist.com

It’s Not About Me!

By Joe Chesser
            We live in a society that basically believes, “It’s all about me.”  Almost every message that advertisers use promotes “me.”  Check them out and see if I’m right.  Pamper yourself.  Please yourself.  Protect yourself.
            No wonder so many marriages are breaking up.  No wonder so many people are having a difficult time at work.  No wonder there’s so much crime and overcrowded prisons.  No wonder there’s so much mud-slinging in politics.  No wonder there’s so much road rage.  No wonder children are so difficult to control.  No wonder there are so many lawsuits.  No wonder there are so many people crying that their rights have been violated.  No wonder there are so many churches being split.
            One of God’s irrefutable laws says that whatever you sow, you reap.  We are seeing the vivid results of sowing the seeds of self-centeredness, and it’s not pretty.
            However, God’s law of sowing and reaping works both ways.  If we actively sow seeds of selflessness and service to others we will definitely reap a different harvest.  What we see in Jesus, and what actually cost him is life, is that God is not happy with self-centeredness in any realm of human existence: not in the home, not in the workplace, not in the church.  So, Jesus repeatedly taught us that Christianity is not about “me,” it’s about others.

            The greatest command is to love God (not self).  Mark 12:29-30
            The next greatest is to love our neighbors (not self)   Mark 12:31
            We are to die to ourselves   Luke 9:23
            We are to bless those who persecute us Romans 12:14
            We are to do nothing out of selfish ambition    Philippians 2:3
            We are to consider others better than ourselves Philippians 2:3

            As much as we are bombarded by advertisers, politicians, educators, and even clergy to “look out for #1,” it will be difficult to believe and practice the teachings of Jesus that it’s “not about you.”  But we must.
            Yet, here’s the blessing.  When we learn to do things the way Jesus taught and lived, we learn that putting others first is the best thing we can do for ourselves.  There’s nothing on earth to compare to becoming like Jesus!

- Joe Chesser preaches for the Fruitland church of Christ, Fruitland, MO.  He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.cofcfruitland.com/