A
thought by John C. Maxwell (2015-10-06) from his book, Intentional Living: Choosing a Life That Matters (p. 110). Center
Street. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to
Amazon.com to buy the book.)
John says, “Think
about this. Self-centeredness is the root of virtually every problem— both personally
and globally. And whether we want to admit it or not, it’s a problem all of us
have.”
That’s true
isn’t it?
He says, “If
you’re tempted to believe it’s not an issue for you, then let me ask a
question. When you look at a group photo that you are in, who do you look for
first? You look for yourself. So do I. We all look for ourselves before we look
at others. If the image of us looks good, we say, ‘What a great picture,’ no
matter who else might have their eyes closed, their mouths open, or their heads
turned. Our opinion is based on how good we look.”
He then
says, “So what’s the problem with being a little self-centered? From my point
of view, there are many. Self-centered people don’t create communities that
endure. Selfishly believing that we are not our brothers’ keepers is not
sustainable. If we want to achieve significance, then we need to become
intentional about getting beyond ourselves and putting other people first. That
may not stop us completely from being selfish or from thinking of ourselves
first, but it will help us to curb our self-centeredness. It will help us to
shift our mindset. It has been my observation that people of significance value
people and can see the potential significance in each person.”
Very, very
good thought to start this new week.
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