Take Yourself Out of the Picture!

"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice."
Philippians 1:15-18

You know that Christ is the center of your life when you can take yourself completely out of the picture! Here we have the Apostle Paul in prison and apparently there are "preachers" who are jealous of the attention that Paul has gotten and consider him to be a threat to their own sense of importance. I love the way that Paul addresses this issue. His response shows that it is all about Jesus! The gospel is so important to Paul, he can look past motives that are negatively directed toward him and say... "What does it matter?" But motives do matter! What does he mean? Paul is not addressing another's relationship with God, but rather his own relationship with God. He is choosing to place himself in the hands of God rather than men. He looks at the bigger picture, and takes himself out of it. So what is the bigger picture? Christ is being preached! He doesn't concern himself with the motives of the messenger, just so the message is being preached. I can hear Paul speaking now... "Call me what you want! Judge me if you may! But praise God your preaching the Gospel!" That is a mark of a man whose life is bound up in Christ!

Let us not get caught up in making ourselves the big picture! Let us see Jesus, the Author and Protector of our faith!

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