Pouring Yourself out for the Sake of Others

Philippians2:1:Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
2:make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit intent on one purpose.
3:Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4:do not merely look out for your own interests, but also the interest of others.
14:Do all things without grumbling and complaining;
15:so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
16:holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain or toil in vain.
17:But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
18: You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.


In many of the apostle Paul's writings he urges and challenges people to follow after his example. In this passage he is showing us that we should at times be willing to set aside our agenda and interests, so we can pour out ourselves for the sakes of others. He uses Christ dieing on the cross as the example of sacrificing His life for the sake of others. I am also reminded of the verse Pastor Cliff refers us to. I think it is found in Galations. It explains that we should die to ourselves, so we can live for Christ.

I am still working on the landscaping project here at the church. It is still not completed yet, but yesterday, I made good progress as I finished the round flower bed in front of the parking lot. As I have been working on this project, I have five people who come and speak to me regularly. At first when they would show up, I was becoming quite irritated, thinking to myself, I have all this work to do, and these people are such a nuisance and a bother to me. I sometimes would put my tools away and end up going home and trying another day. In early April I came across this portion of scripture and realized that my hobby could turn into a ministry to these people. As they continued to come, I asked them if they minded if I worked while we talked. I have become friends with them and I have learned some things about them, and ways I could minister to them and some other citizens in the community. One of them mentioned that he enjoys talking to me, because he doesn't have many friends he can talk to, so he usually ends up going to the bar, where he can speak to others ,but he always ends up getting drunk. He hates doing that and he is on a fixed income, and spends most of his money buying beer. He also has a hand that is deformed and he shared with me that last year he went fishing by himself and he fell over a steep bank and fell into French Creek and he almost drowned, because of his deformed hand he had a hard time pulling himself out of the water. He also likes to go hiking, but has trouble finding people who are willing to go with him. Another person who the community thinks and has labeled him as being useless because he is mentally retarded surprised me by letting me go to his house and seeing a large shed he built out of scrap wood and materials that he has collected from leftover materials from projects at contractor sites. He would see someone building something and they would have a pile of unusable wood and he would ask if he could take them. He also put siding and two large doors on the front of it. He also can fix lawn mower engines and repairs things. He is 50 years old now and because of people putting this label on him and the government labeling him, he has spent his life collecting disability. Could you imagine if someone who was a contractor would have poured themselves out for his interest, he could have been useful and had a good paying job. There is also an older couple who used to go to our church that I found out from another person, that they had to give up their drivers license and they may at times want to come to church, but are unable because of transportation needs. I am not sure how they feel about it, but it would be nice if someone was willing to look at their interests and offer them a ride so they can worship with us. It was a sacrifice for me to set aside my agenda, but I realize now that I really didn't have to give it up completely, but that I could reach unbelievers if I could allow them to be a part of what I was doing. I know a lot of lonely citizens in our small town who could be reached with the gospel, if we had people who were willing to give themselves to others and share those gifts and hobbies that you enjoy so much. Gardening, hunting, fishing, hiking, craft projects, etc. I wish there was a way we could connect Christians to be disciples to unreached people groups. I am not sure how to accomplish this. One thing I am thinking about is to get my fishing license, because most of these five friends would go fishing if they had someone to go with. So as for me that would be a good start. You too, I urge you in the same way, do what Paul has taught me, look at others who are lost, look at meeting their interests. Share in the joy.