"He must increase, but I must decrease." Famous words of John the Baptist in Jn 3:30. One of the most common words used is the word "I". Listen to yourself talk. Read what you have written. Listen to others talk and read what they have written, and you will see that the pronoun "I" is used a lot. Check out the song by Toby Keith "I want to Talk About Me" (See video at the end of this blog.)
This song is the natural response of being around someone that is always talking about themselves. Listen to a sermon, and write down a mark on a piece of paper each time the preacher uses the word "I", and ask yourself "Does he speak more about himself than God. Why is it that we are so focused on ourselves? God thinks about others, while we think about ourselves. We were created in God's image, but since Adam's sin we all now have a fallen nature. Our view has fallen/shifted from God to ourselves. We no longer look at the perfect and beautiful glory of God, but our own corrupted image. We don't naturally put others first, but we put our self first. Agape love doesn't describe us, but selfishness. (Agape love is putting others first for their benefit rather than our own.) If one has been born again, one now has another nature, a new nature, in addition to their fallen nature. When one is led by the Holy Spirit they can now use that new nature to focus on putting others first. This is what God would have us strive for. It is written in Philippians 2:3 "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mine let each esteem other better than themselves."
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