Advance Kingdom Interests With a Self-Sacrificing Spirit
1 We live in a world in which the spirit of self-sacrifice has all but disappeared. Many today give little thought to helping others. A self-indulgent, me-first attitude seems to prevail. Describing our day, Paul said: “People will be selfish, greedy . . . ungrateful.” (2 Tim. 3:2, TEV) Christians must resist the world’s ungodly spirit if they are to retain God’s favor. Why is this, and in what ways can we be self-sacrificing for the advancement of Kingdom interests?
WHY BE SELF-SACRIFICING
2 Jehovah is the Originator of all good things. (Jas. 1:17) Whatever we possess belongs to him. A feeling of indebtedness to God should compel us to sacrifice our time, talents, possessions, our very lives, for his service. (Compare 1 Corinthians 4:7.) In every respect, we owe him such devotion.—Rev. 4:11.
3 Jesus Christ is the perfect example of one who was self-sacrificing. His setting aside personal interests to do the will of God revealed an intense desire to please his Father. He was fully absorbed in pursuing Kingdom interests. (John 5:30) The apostle Paul also saw the value of self-sacrifice, and he urged the brothers in Rome to ‘present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God.’—Rom. 12:1.
WAYS SACRIFICES CAN BE MADE
4 Today, God’s servants are no less self-sacrificing. Many of our brothers and sisters have left homes and possessions in order to work in the full-time service. Still others, even though not in the full-time work, have given generously of their time, money, and energy to help build appropriate places of worship. Yes, volunteer help by dedicated men, women, and children has made it necessary to hire labor or even skilled help only rarely when building Kingdom Halls or Assembly Halls. They view such volunteer work as a contribution toward the advancement of Kingdom interests, much the same as they view their field service. They appreciate the invaluable spiritual blessings they and others will receive from the use of such facilities and so apply the principle of Jesus when he said: “You received free, give free.”—Matt. 10:8.
5 What about us? Do we have the spirit of self-sacrifice? Are we serving Jehovah to the extent our circumstances allow? We cannot afford to let the spirit of the world dominate our thinking. Can we devote more time to personal Bible study? Can we perhaps assist the sick, the elderly, or others by performing Christian acts of kindness and love? Can we schedule more time to inform people in our neighborhood about the good news? Can we expand our ministry to include the auxiliary or regular pioneer service? It may be that self-analysis will show where we can make improvement.—Heb. 13:15, 16.
6 As we near the end of this system of things, there is an ever greater need to intensify our willingness to make sacrifices to serve God acceptably. Satan knows his time is growing short. He would like nothing better than to induce Jehovah’s people to pursue the selfish course of the world. May we resist such devilish designs and cultivate the spirit of the psalmist when he said: “In willingness I will sacrifice to you. I shall laud your name, O Jehovah, for it is good.”—Ps. 54:6.