Every
Christian knows that the world is in a broken state due to sin. The effects of
this can be seen everywhere around the world. People are starving, people are
dying, and diseases without cures are evils that lie within the world. Within
this dark shadow lays virtue, however, given by God to His people. These
virtues are signs that bring hope, because they foster belief that the world
isn’t wholeheartedly evil and that good still lives. While it is possibly unfair
to rank these virtues in order of the greatest one, I say that the greatest
virtue that anyone could possibly have is a selfless heart.
There is a beauty in having the
selfless servant heart. Jesus Himself shows and speaks about being the last and
serving others the way He showed His people. Serving really gives a certain joy
to one’s heart. There is something special about being the one to put a smile
on someone else’s face. It is the simple joy of putting someone else first and
carrying one’s own cross that I believe Jesus was getting at.
Selflessness also provides a path to
achieving great things in the world with God’s hand. I look towards
organizations like World Vision and Compassion International. These companies
were made off of a vision of a person who had the heart and the mindset to change
things. Mother Theresa is another great example of how selflessness can lead to
worldly change. These people are not limited by their fame either. I think of
people like Becksvoort, Tamminga, and all of the unsung heroes of Christianity
who ventured forwards into places where Christ was never even heard of. These
men and women touched so many lives through just being selfless. In a society
that tells people that they need more stuff, that they need to look a certain
way and that these things need to happen this way, it is utterly foreign to the
world to have a selfless attitude. I believe that it is Satan’s way of leading
people away from things that are good and godly.
I realize that selflessness is only
one virtue and that the many other virtues have tremendous amounts of worth as
well. However, Paul does say in the Bible that the greatest of is love, and
that without love people can do nothing. Jesus tells the Pharisee that the
greatest commandment is to love the Lord and to love your neighbors. Selflessness
is a defining characteristic of godly love, and thus is the greatest virtue
that one could have.
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