It has been said that being selfless means thinking about yourself less. This is a helpful definition. After all, it is difficult for anyone to live selflessly when they are consistently thinking only about themselves. Being consumed with thoughts about themselves breeds selfishness, the exact opposite of selflessness. As we think of God's call for His followers to love others, living selflessly is a key component of love. Loving people the way God calls us to love often calls us to put others' needs ahead of our own.
The apostle Paul taught about the importance of living selflessly in 1 Corinthians 10. In this chapter of 1 Corinthians, he addressed an argument that followers of Christ were having. In Paul's day, much of the meat offered at the marketplace had been offered to idols or carved images that people worshiped as gods. According to Paul, there were two schools of thought about eating meat that had been offered to idols. Some believed that eating such meat from the marketplace was wrong because it had been offered to idols and should be restricted. Others said, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it" (verse 24). These people believed that they could eat any meat because that meat was a gift of God. As Paul taught believers the right thing to do, he taught that followers of Christ were free to eat the meat because it was a gift from God that they could properly thank Him for. There was an exception, however. If believers were around other people who followed Jesus who firmly believed that eating meat offered to idols was wrong and restricted, they were to refrain from eating the meat out of consideration of that person's conscience. In other words, Paul instructed his followers to live selflessly, thinking of others and their needs above their own.
Throughout this teaching from Paul, he specifically taught Christ-followers to look out for others' needs. He wrote in verse 24, "Don't be concerned for your own good but for the good of others." Further on in this teaching, he wrote, I don't just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved (verse 33). For Paul, the key to whether or not to eat the meat sacrificed to idols, and many other areas of life, was thinking of others. He did not make decisions about what was best for him. He cared for the needs of others as well. He compelled readers to follow his example because he followed Christ, who was the ultimate example of living selflessly.
This call from Paul is a reminder for you and me today, too. In a world that prizes looking out for ourselves, we are called to be different. We are called to live selflessly, considering the needs of others, too. This is one way that we can model love for the people around us.
Living selflessly and thinking about ourselves less does not come naturally for many of us. Because of this, we must continually remind ourselves to love others selflessly. Take some time now to begin to memorize 1 Corinthians 10:24. Let this verse be a reminder to you to love others around you selflessly every day.
I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body. Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?
What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience. (But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved. And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
