Today few people try to please their neighbors before themselves, including Christians. Instead, you focus your life on what is meaningful to you. There is very little thought in today’s world of not wanting to be a stumbling block to others. One reason for this is because you are self-centered, focusing your attention on yourself instead of trying to think about others.
You have forgotten that the Lord talked much about “dying to self” and “not being a stumbling block to others.” The Lord does not tell you to do that to keep good things from you, but to remind you that you are, in some sense of the word, accountable to others for your actions. There is an old time saying that rings volumes of truth, and it goes like this: “You are the best Christian someone knows.” Wow! That is kind of scary to think that you are the “best” Christian that some other person knows. That should challenge you to be the best you can be in Christ.
How can you be the best Christian that you can be? The answer to that question can be summarized in Colossians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” This Scripture tells you to no longer live to please yourself, but to please the Lord Jesus. It does not stop there but goes on to tell you how to do that; the verse says, “I have been crucified with Christ” so dying to personal wants and desires no longer is the way you live your life. Instead, you live your life “by faith in the Son of God.” Thus, you tell yourself that you will no longer do the things you want to do, but you will do the things that the Lord in His Word commands you to do.
When you live your life well pleasing to the Lord and not trying to fit in with the crowd or live your life to please others, you can be the best Christian that someone else may know. Let Christ empower you with His Holy Spirit to be the best Christian someone else may know!
