"Live for Jesus, Not Yourself" by Hiram Kemp

leave you with a quick devotional thought

that will encourage us as we go throughout our week.

They say domestic cats are the most selfish animals

in all the world.

And if you have a cat, maybe you know that's true.

It says that, research says they're not pack animals.

They tend to roam alone.

They don't seek approval like dogs naturally do.

They're just fine as they are.

They seek affection, but only when it's instigated by them.

And second place to domestic cats would be cuckoo birds.

They are what scientists call a perfect example

of the strategy of selfishness.

They lay their eggs in other birds' nests.

When their chicks hatch, they push out the other bird's

chicks and make a home for themselves.

The birds that initially laid the eggs there

eventually go on and live their own lives

and leave other birds to take care of their own.

Scientists struggle to call what these animals do selfishness.

They say that it's merely their survival,

that animals aren't capable of what humans are

as it relates to what's known as moral selfishness.

They say these animals, cats, and cuckoo birds

are simply doing this because if they don't,

they won't survive, they'll die.

When you open up the New Testament,

Jesus says if your life and my life

is dominated by selfishness, we won't live.

He says, if any man will come after me,

let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,

Mark chapter eight and verse 34.

Whoever will save his life will lose it.

Whoever loses his life for my sake,

that's how you find it, Luke nine and verse 24.

Whoever will be chief among you must be slave of all,

Matthew chapter 20 and verse 27.

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

I'm sure you remember our congregational theme this year

is shining our light through Christian service.

I think it's a great theme and it's based on the verse

that Caden read for us a moment ago

from Mark 10, 42 through 45, but it's possible

for people that are Bible-believing and church-attending

to make Christianity just one more accessory,

just one more thing that we do,

and in the end, our Christianity can ultimately

be something that we manipulate to elevate ourselves.

What I wanna say tonight before we extend the invitation

is a few things that hopefully will help us

to live for Jesus instead of ourselves,

because it's tempting to use Christianity, really,

to make it all about us, and if you know anything

about Christianity, this one thing is true.

If you're gonna do Christianity right,

it can't be about you.

At the heart of Christianity,

what it means is to live for Jesus,

and this is how we can do it,

live for Jesus instead of ourselves.

Number one, if you're gonna live for Jesus,

you gotta look at Jesus more than you look at yourself.

Hebrews chapter 12 in verse two,

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

the Hebrew writer says, looking unto Jesus,

the author and the finisher of our faith.

In Hebrews chapter two in verse nine,

he says this earlier, but we see Jesus.

John would say, behold, the Lamb of God,

who takes away the sin of the world.

John one in verse 29, Paul taught the Corinthians

in 2 Corinthians chapter four in verse six

that God has shown a light into our hearts

so that we can see the glory of God,

which is only visible in the face of Jesus Christ.

If you wanna live for Jesus rather than yourself,

you've gotta look at Jesus more than you look at yourself.

The Bible is always trying to tell us

to direct our gaze upward, but everything the devil does

is to try to get us to direct our gaze downward.

We look at ourselves and we say,

I'm so sinful, he'll never have me.

The road to faithfulness is so long, I'll never make it.

My sins cling so tightly, I'll never be free,

but he's a mightier savior than we are sinners,

Hebrews chapter seven in verse 25.

Or maybe we look at it the other way around

and we look at ourselves and we say,

look at how many prayers I've prayed,

how many verses I know, how many Bible connections I've made,

how many great deeds I've done.

If you're gonna live for Jesus though, rather than yourself,

you've gotta start looking more at what he's done for you

than what you've done for him.

2 Corinthians eight in verse nine, Paul says,

you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

that though he was rich, yet for your sake,

he became poor so that you,

through his poverty, might be made rich.

Robert Murray McShane is right when he says,

for every look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ.

Because in the end, it's not so much about our sin,

but about his salvation.

It's not so much about our weakness, but his strength.

It's not our blood, sweat, and tears

that ultimately leads to our salvation,

our blood, sweat, and tears for him, but his for us.

And it's not so much your hold on him,

but his hold on you, Philippians chapter three in verse 12.

If you're gonna live for Jesus, rather than yourself,

you've gotta look at Jesus more than you look at yourself.

Because in the end,

the one that we spend our lives looking at

is the one we spend our lives living for.

In Philippians 3 20, Paul says,

set your mind on our citizenship, which is in heaven,

from which we hope to see our savior.

But quickly, here's number two,

take a genuine interest in other people.

If you wanna live for Jesus rather than yourself,

take a genuine interest in other people.

Paul said about Timothy in Philippians 2 in verse 20,

I'm gonna send Timothy to you

because he naturally is concerned about your welfare,

and I don't have anybody else like that.

Everybody else is concerned about their own affairs,

Philippians 2 in verse 21.

But living for Jesus means you take a true

and genuine interest in other people.

That means instead of going home every night

and thinking to yourself as you sit up and rehearse the day,

all the things you said,

and maybe how dumb they made you feel,

or maybe what you had on or how people saw you,

start thinking about other people and their spiritual state

and how you can bring them closer to God,

1 Timothy 2 in verse four.

Think about other people's struggles

and how you can come alongside other people

that are suffering and help them to bear their load,

2 Corinthians 10 verses three through five.

Instead of thinking about all the people who failed you

and who haven't been the kind of friend to you

that you so desperately need and desire,

extend yourself and be that for another,

2 Corinthians 12 in verse 15.

If you're gonna live for Jesus, instead of yourself,

you've gotta take a genuine and true,

thorough interest in other people.

You already know yourself.

Spend your life getting to know somebody else.

And there's a right way and a wrong way to do this.

Investigators ask questions to figure out who's wrong

and who's at fault so that they can place blame.

News anchors ask questions

so that they can find out information

and so that they can spread it and publicize it.

They want a story.

But waiters and waitresses ask people questions

because they wanna know what do you need

and how can they serve you?

See, Christians, we're not interested in other people

so that we can find out how to point fingers and place blame

nor do we simply wanna know people's information

so that we can spread it.

But instead, we are interested so that we can invest.

Paul says, now we live if you stand fast in the Lord,

1 Thessalonians 3 in verse eight.

In 2 Timothy 2.10, he says,

I endure all things for the elect's sake

because the way to live for Jesus

is to be genuinely interested in other people.

And here's the last thing tonight.

If we're gonna live for Jesus rather than for ourselves,

find ways to serve those that Jesus called

the least of these.

In the judgment scene in Matthew 25 verses 31 through 36,

Matthew 25:31–36

Jesus mentions all these things

that individuals had done for other people.

And the individuals that did the serving were surprised

that Jesus' response and their reward

because he tells them in Matthew 25 in verse 40,

whatever you've done for the least of these, my brethren,

you've done it unto me.

And if we're gonna live for Jesus instead of self

and be those that shine our light through Christian service,

we've gotta find ways to serve the least of these.

Contrary to domestic cats and cuckoo birds

are these bees, these worker bees.

They don't work for themselves.

They work for the queen and for the colony.

They give themselves over in sacrificial service for another

and they even die after they sting other individuals

to ultimately protect the hive.

And if you're a Christian,

that's what our life's supposed to be about.

We live our lives intertwined with Jesus

and with the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

We live our lives in service for other people.

We know John 3, 16,

for God so loved the world that he gave his only son.

But 1 John 3, 16 says, if we love the brethren,

we're to lay down our lives for them.

Because ultimately we really live for Jesus

when it's less about us and more about him.

And the more you think about this,

Jesus is not asking us to do anything

he hasn't already done for us.

In Jeremiah 45, it's a short chapter.

Jeremiah's talking to his secretary by the name of Baruch

and he's giving him a mission

and he has to go and record some things

and carry out a mission for Jeremiah.

And in Jeremiah 45 in verse five, he says to Baruch,

do you seek great things for yourself?

Seek them not.

And I think that's God's message

to everybody in the world through scripture.

Do you seek great things for yourself?

Seek them not.

Live your life and pour it out for Jesus Christ.

And when all is said and done,

he'll give you a new one and it'll last forever.

Tonight we're gonna be letting a song

of encouragement or invitation.

If somebody needs to respond by initially

giving their life to Jesus and faithful obedience,

realizing that the only reason why we have physical life

and the hope of everlasting life

is because Jesus poured out his life for us,

we'd be happy to assist you in doing that.

If you need to obey the gospel tonight,

if we can pray with you or pray for you,

there's gonna be a song of invitation sung

as we stand and sing, let us know how we can help you.