WHAT IS THE “WHAT IF DEVO SERIES”?
Are you consumed with you, your needs, and your desires? Do you struggle with selfishness? You’re at the right blog at the right time. This is the second devo in a series called “The What If Devo Series”. Women ask, “What if…” a LOT in our minds, to families, friends, and God. This series will address a variety of tough “What if…” questions moms & women have.
Asking, “What if…” can be good if it leads to healthy habits and relationships and ultimately draws us closer to Christ. Asking, “What if…” with an open heart and open Bible helps us become stronger, confident women and moms who are growing in the Lord.
On the other hand, “What if…” can also lead to anxiety, worry, and frustration when we depend only on ourselves for the answer.
This devo series will guide you to take the first approach, leading to peace, strength, wisdom, and confidence in God. The first devo in the series is “What If I Yell A Lot?”. But today we’re asking…
WHAT IF I’M FULL OF ME?
When you imagine a person being “full of themselves”, do these people come to mind?
- A guy admiring his “gun show” in the mirror
- An attractive woman eating up the attention of admirers
- A child serving herself, but never others
- A celebrity leaving a careless trail of broken hearts behind him
Sure, the people above are obvious culprits. But as sinful people, by nature, we are ALL consumed with ourselves. In the flesh, we do all we can to set our lives up to serve ourselves best. And it’s evident in our schedules, priorities, attitudes, actions, reactions, finances, you name it.
We want what we want and do all we can to achieve it, thinking it will put our hearts and minds at rest. After all, who knows better of what we truly want and need than WE do, right?
Well, the good news is if you’re reading this, asking, “What if I’m full of me?”, it means you’re aware there’s a problem. Something inside is saying that even if you got everything you wanted, you’d still be unsatisfied. You’ve probably even seen the fallout of getting what you wanted, paying a higher price than you expected.
Let’s talk about that.
FULL OF ME MEANS NONE OF YOU.
Every time I choose me over another, I’m just filling myself with more of me. And the result? There’s less room in my heart, my impact, and my life for another person.
The more of me I add to me, the less room in me there is for you. And eventually, full of me means NONE of you.
I struggle with this when it comes to my agenda for the day (hence the need for my Made Matchless Planner & Prayer Journal for Women). If I set my agenda and neglect God in the process, I set the stage for some serious selfishness. I’m so overflowing with desire to complete tasks, that others’ needs become at best, secondary and at worst, a hindrance.
Just yesterday I was trying to finish my Bible study. Small group was in a few hours and I wanted to just get it done (um, not the greatest motive!). My daughter came in, asking to use my phone to make a quick video of her, her friend, and her brother doing something funny. It was only going to take a minute and she was excited.
But my heart was so consumed with me and my desire to check God off my list (augh!!). So my immediate response, without even thinking? “No.”
“But please, Mom? It’ll just take a minute.”
“No. I’m doing my Bible study and I have to get it done.”
She ran back downstairs. Her friend asked, “Can we use your mom’s phone?”
“No, she’s doing something really important on it right now.”
Was I? Really?
In the midst of my selfish thinking, I was supposedly doing the most important thing in ALL of our lives at the moment: MY thing. But that oh-so-important thing was half-heartedly making my way through Bible study questions in order to get them done (augh, again!!).
And my daughter’s need? Dismissed. Mom – 0. Daughter – 0. God – 0. Nobody “won” in that round.
FULL OF ME MEANS NONE OF CHRIST.
In moments like that, my flesh likes to pretend Philippians Chapter 2 doesn’t exist. I pretend it doesn’t apply, that I’m doing “enough”, or that I have a really good excuse. But just glancing through Philippians 2, there’s enough to wreck the everyday woman like me:
- ” Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit …”
- “…in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
- “…look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
And of Jesus, the Son of God…
- ” did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself…”
- “…taking the form of a servant…”
- “…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross…”
Excuse me? Emptied himself? The one person who walked the earth who had every right and standing to be FILLED with self-importance was the only person who ever truly and completely became EMPTY? Then…he died for me?
Friend, if Jesus is our example, how can we possibly think we can be full of self AND full of God? How can we fill our hearts to the brim with our agendas, goals, and fleeting desires and still think there’s room to squeeze in the needs of others?
And how could there ever be room for Christ?
No, the reality is, FULL OF ME not only means NONE OF YOU, but it also means NONE OF CHRIST. And then, guess what: we appear no different than the world.
Don’t be fooled. It’s the small things.
You’re probably not doing huge, obvious, selfish acts. If you’re like me, they’re small things. The everyday choices you and I make to subtly put ourselves first, simply leaves a little less…and a little less…and a little less room for others and Jesus. Like…
Saying “no” because it’s inconvenient…
Getting annoyed because plans change…
Avoiding a neighbor because “I don’t have time to talk”…
Speaking my mind to “get it off my chest”…
Lots of little “me-firsts” add up, resulting in a heart condition saturated with self, and keeping us from reflecting Christ’s radical, sacrificial, Gospel-love. And consequently, it keeps us from experiencing what Christ wants to do through our lives for his glory.
So let’s return to our question: “What if that’s me? What do I do if I’m just so full of me?”
Humble yourself or be humbled.
Soon after I heard my daughter tell her friend of the “important” thing I was doing on my phone, God convicted me. Jesus’ words that I’ve read and re-read in this season nudged my heart:
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 10:27 was calling me to humble myself with a small, simple act of putting my daughter first. It wasn’t much to tell her, “Yes, you can use my phone”, but it was a small start…a little act of obedience to make room for her and Christ.
This world–this perfect greenhouse for growing selfishness–says, “Exalt yourself to be exalted”. It says, “Cultivate your own desires first. Water your own dreams, wants, and agendas. Don’t worry, they’ll be plenty leftover for Jesus and others.”
Please don’t listen. There will always be more desires that follow. Instead, stop, consider the one you say you follow, and…
EMPTY YOURSELF.
Christ’s life consistently reflected how he emptied himself: washing his disciples’ feet, touching the unclean woman, freeing demon-possessed people, and healing society’s untouchables. How many times was Jesus surrounded by crowds and yet stopped to address a single, humble person?
I bet you are a sinful woman longing to live an authentic, Christ-honoring life. So I exhort you: make the choice DAILY to reflect on Christ and empty yourself as he did, as hard as it is.
Ponder how every choice of filling yourself with YOU leaves less room for CHRIST….and on the flip side, how emptying yourself leaves more room for Christ to fill. Isn’t it interesting that Christ comes in and displaces you…and yet you feel more satisfied than you ever did before?
Do you want that? I know I do. But it doesn’t happen through passive hope. Repent. Turn from selfish inclinations. Seek ways to serve family, friends, and neighbors. Ask God to give you grace and reveal opportunities to “count others more significant than yourselves…” Pray for his Holy Spirit to battle the temptation to fill you with YOU again.
Then trust. Trust he will begin the work, that he will complete it, and that you’ll be more satisfied filled with HIM than you ever were with yourself. Because true satisfaction is never found in yourself. It’s only found in Christ.
When are you tempted to put yourself first? What are small ways you can “empty yourself” this week as Christ did? Comment below!
