less of me.

life isn't about me.
it's not for my glory.
it's not run on my schedule.

it just simply isn't.

life is about Christ.
it's about the Kingdom.
it's about building up the body.

it's for His glory.
it's about giving Him credit.
it's about bringing Him praise.

it's on His schedule.
it's in His time frame.
it's based on His plan.

as a college student it is hard for me to keep those things in mind.
it's hard to remember that this life is not my own.

college kids are selfish.
there it is.

we see life--for the first time--as our own.
we are on our own schedules.
we make our own rules.
we decide everything for ourselves.

it's a very "me focused" lifestyle.

i have found myself, when faced with a decision, focusing on the choice that best suits me.
i have found myself, when asked to hang out, focusing on if that's really how i want to spend my free time.
i have found myself, on quite a frequent basis, asking questions that include the words "me" "myself" and "i"

i first noticed this when i came back from school last summer after my first year on my own as a college student.
i had developed quite a self-focused attitude.

this semester i tried to suppress and change it.

i made some progress...
but i don't think i truly grasped why i was being called to a life of more.
i didn't understand why it was so important for me to consider others as more important than i.

but i have learned some things over the past couple months.

have you ever stopped to realize

what could someone else be going through
what could someone else be struggling with
what could someone else be searching for

that you could help them through?

i am not my own.
i make mistakes.
i have struggles.
i experience pain.

all of these things occur because i truly believe that our own mistakes/struggles/pain can be used as a way to connect to other people.
they bring us to a level that we may not have been able to reach before.
they allow us to open up in new ways.

so when we become so internally focused, we lose sight of the external issues that we are being called to act on.

i am living in the four years that i can live the most selfishly.

...or so i've been told.

maybe it's that i am living in the four years that i could have the greatest impact?
maybe it's that i am living in the four years that i could make the biggest difference?

you never know what Christ is calling you to.
you never know how He is going to use you in the lives of others.
heck, you never know how He is going to use others in your life.

but sometimes it takes a giant step away from looking solely on yourself to see the work that needs to be done around you...
to see the lives that need His touch the most...
to see the purpose for your call on earth.

as i gear up to head out and start semester two tomorrow
i am going in with the mindset of

less of me. more of Him.

i am striving to make my life more focused on how i can help those around me instead of constantly seeing how every and anything is going to benefit me.

here's to semester two.
here's to you.