Seeks not its own

1) A farmer was not happy with the corn crop he had been harvesting.

2) He heard of a new variety of corn and planted it.

3) Neighbors saw his first crop and were they very impressed. They asked him to share his knowledge.

4) The farmer refused; he had a good thing going and he planned to keep it all to himself.

5) A second planting season arrived and the farmer once again planted the special seed.

6) This time the crop was not quite as good as the first time.

7) The farmer thought it was an off year so he waited till the 3^rd year and tried again.

8) When things got worse, he realized there was a problem.

9) His corn was being pollinated by inferior corn from his neighbors.

10) Selfishness caused this man to lose many things.

11) Selfishness is a problem in the world, and it can have a major impact on the lives of people.

12) We heard something contrary to this in our Scripture reading.

13) Paul said “love does not seek its own.”

a) Paul made this point in an interesting way; “seek” is a verb. It is a present tense verb.

b) There are times when we may seek something for ourselves.

c) By using the present tense Paul meant a person with love does not continually seek their own.

d) Rather than always seeking to serve and please self, agape love means we work to serve others.

14) Ideally many people learn this lesson in the parent child relationship.

a) Parents often do a lot of things for children that are not much fun.

b) A child is sick all night long and cannot care for himself or herself.

c) A mother or father stays up with the child for the entire night – why?

d) Because love is not seeking its own; love causes us to turn our attention to others.

e) What is found with parents and children should be found in many other places too.

15) Lots of people cannot see past themselves and only seek to benefit themselves.

16) In Phil. 2:21 Paul said: “all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”

a) 2,000 years ago inspired writers knew that people would be selfish.

b) God knew self would be put before Christ and the church.

c) Even Jesus knew this would be a temptation.

d) Thus, He warned about matters such as this in Mt. 16:24.

e) “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross.”

17) Teaching that selfishness is wrong was an important to point to make among the Corinthians.

18) Time and time again there were Christians in this body of believers who were selfish.

19) People put their own personal interests above others as well as those of the Lord.

20) In the secular world this is how people think and act. It has often been a “me first” world.

a) Someone else may be helped, but that is usually done only if a person has “extra time.”

b) A person may help someone else if they “have a chance.”

c) “Let me get my work done first and then I will help you.”

d) In some cases we really need to do something first.

e) There are many instances when this is just a way of saying, “I am selfish.”

21) God has given a completely different standard to those who are His people.

22) We cannot neglect responsibility, but we can work time and time again to put others first.

23) This can be a challenging thing to learn and practice on a regular basis.

24) America, after all, is often the land of selfishness.

25) We expect things from our government, our employer, and even the place where we worship.

26) Focus is often on our wants, needs and interests. It is often give me, serve me, help me, put me first.

27) If people do not get what they think they want or deserve, they often clamor for “their rights.”

a) I want to direct our attention to a passage in the Corinthian letter that is found back in chapter 10.

b) Paul expressed a similar idea, and the thought is very relevant to what is said in 1 Cor. 13.

c) Paul spoke about “his neighbor’s good.”

d) In the context this seems to refer to a fellow Christian; the ultimate application would be to all people.

e) 1 Cor. 10:24 – READ.

28) Some Christians were eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols and this was fine with them.

29) Others were not eating the meat because they were not comfortable with the practice.

a) This is directly parallel to many circumstances at the present time.

b) People often have different ideas about something.

c) One person or group may want to do something this way.

d) Another group has a completely different idea about how the matter.

e) This happens every single day in the world and it often occurs within the church.

30) When individuals and groups find themselves in this type of situation, what is to be done?

a) One possibility is for the people involved to take a position and demand that things be done their way.

b) People can become insistent that their idea is the best and things are going to be done their way.

c) This is what happened at Corinth. People demanded that their view be followed about eating meat.

d) If a person is insistent, they may indeed succeed at getting their way.

e) Even though a person may seem to get their way, they lose in the most important way.

f) People who strong-arm others do not practice love.

g) It may be the case that someone who bullies others actually has the better plan.

h) Maybe their idea is actually the best way to go.

i) Look back to 1 Cor. 13:1 – READ.

j) Then at the end of verse 2 we have these words – “I am nothing.”

31) Sometimes we see a person get what they want, but the cost is too high.

a) Ideally when two people or groups disagree they will find a solution based on 1 Cor. 13:5.

b) Neither one will come to the table seeking their own way and desires.

c) Imagine two people (or groups) sitting down and wanting what is best for the other party.

d) Imagine a large industry like the airlines.

e) The flight attendants and pilots are on one side of the discussion; the airline is on the other.

f) When they come to the bargaining table, each is seeking its own interests.

g) God says this is not love; it is “me first.”

h) We also see how the world’s approach is counterproductive.

32) If there are congregations of the church were Christians “seek their own” there will be problems.

33) If brethren will seek what is good for one another, great things will happen.

34) Paul lived in this manner.

35) Earlier we read from 1 Cor. 10:24.

36) Just a few verses later in 1 Cor. 10:33 he said something interesting.

37) He spoke of his life and what he tried to accomplish – READ 1 Cor. 10:33.

38) If this is all the information on this topic we could understand God’s will about this matter.

a) God’s word has some more to say about this.

b) One place where we find additional material is the second chapter of Philippians.

c) In Phil. 2:5-9 we find what we are discussing illustrated by Jesus.

d) In many ways Paul said Jesus did not seek his own.

e) Jesus was God, but He did not demand that people treat Him in that way (verse 6).

f) Jesus “took the form of a servant” (verse 7).

g) Jesus humbled Himself even to the point of death (verse 8).

39) Before saying all these things Paul made this point in Phil. 2:4 – READ.

a) Notice the word “looking.”

b) Non-Christian writers applied this term to people like judges and philosophers.

c) These men looked at things with a “critical eye.”

d) Here the term means we “fix our eyes on others” to see how we can help them.

40) Christians need to lead the way with this quality.

41) We look out for the interests of others first. We put out own interests behind those of others.

42) If we do not show it to the people around us, others are not going to see it very often if at all.

43) If our society does not see this quality and learn it, it will one day be in big trouble.

a) The next passage on our list is 2 Tim. 3:2.

b) Paul said in the “last days grievous times shall come.”

c) Our world often talks about “bad times.”

d) For the unsaved, bad times are usually not linked with moral issues.

e) Bad times are a depressed housing market, a bad job market, or maybe a poor crop (limited produce).

f) God’s word talks about another type of bad time: wicked people.

g) Paul said this would come in the “last days” (the New Testament era we now live in).

h) This time started with the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and lasts until the end of time.

44) Hear verses 1-2 of 2 Tim. 3 – READ.

a) I want to look at these items in reverse.

b) At the end of the text we find people who will be “unholy” (people disobey fundamental decency).

c) Things that everyone should know to be right and wrong are rejected.

d) Others will be thankless and disloyal.

e) Disobedience to parents; this also implies the breakdown of families.

f) Railers are those who use abusive and slanderous speech. Boastful and haughty people.

g) There will be lovers of money. Notice how the list begins: lovers of self.

45) When people love themselves (i.e. self is where they are focused), society is in serious trouble.

46) Every single sin in 2 Tim. 3 can be related to loving and always seeking what is best for self.

47) Selfishness is deadly to any society, any home, and any organization, and ultimately any individual.

48) Living in the way we have described is good for many reasons.

a) It allows us to please God, it is better for us as we go through life, and it can have some earthly benefits.

b) In Lk. 7 we read of a “centurion” who had a servant.

c) This military office really liked this servant, and he knew his servant was at the point of death.

d) This man heard of Jesus. Many stories must have circulated about Jesus and His healings.

e) This man sent Jewish elders to Jesus and asked that they convey his request to the Lord.

49) Imagine Jewish elders going to Jesus and basically asking for a favor.

50) Imagine doing that for someone who was not a Jew (at best the centurion was a proselyte).

51) Why would Jews do such a thing?

a) Listen to Lk. 7:4-5 – READ.

b) Here was a man who did not seek his own. He sought what was best for others.

c) He had helped the Jews in some very significant ways.

d) A time came when he needed help. He need help in a big way; only one Man could assist him.

e) He felt like he had to make his request through some people who must not have wanted to do it.

f) Yet, the Jews did make this request and this do so “earnestly” (Lk. 7:4).

52) The centurion was not a Christian, but he did understand this much: love does not seek its own.

53) Living in this manner pays big, big dividends.

54) Jesus came to earth and died because He was not selfish.

55) He now calls upon us to live in a similar manner. Do we?