I think it is a very good exercise to occasionally take a step back from our life and do a self-evaluation. Just like we are suppose to take our car in a couple of times of year for a tune-up to make sure it is running well. Just like we are suppose to take our bodies in once a year to have the doctor check us out to make sure everything is okay. Taking a step back from our lives allows us to check our perspective and motivations. It also allows us to keep everything in the context of God's plan and purpose.
This is important because we can become too focused on ourselves, allowing selfishness and self-centeredness to creep in and take over. Such things are like death to a Christ-centered heart. Those who have accepted Jesus as Saviour and Lord have been re-created, have died to themselves and are now alive in Jesus. They live by two rules that form their motivation for everything they do: love God with your entire being and love others. So you can see how selfishness and self-centeredness could destroy such people.
People who become focused on themselves end up being motivated by self-gratification. Everything becomes about what they want, what brings them pleasure, what makes them happy and these things usually result in the unhappiness of the people around them. All they talk about is themselves. They constantly pray about themselves. Everything is always focused on them. They are the sort of people who buy treats for their kids but eat them themselves. They buy a gift for their spouse so they can use it themselves. It is never about anyone else.
People who fall into this trap also fail in their service to Jesus, it becomes an inconvenience. They don't take into consideration the major inconvenience Jesus went through for us because his suffering and death don't seem real to them. In their self-centeredness they lose sight of the reality of Jesus' suffering death, of his great sacrifice to even become one of us, of his taking on all of our sins. Most of us are glad to serve him out of respect, love and gratitude for what he has done for us. We gladly set aside what we want , what we desire, in order to serve him according to his will. We realize that this will cause some inconvenience but what is that compared to what he has done for us? When our lives are focused on Jesus' love for us everything changes and we become givers instead of takers,
Taking a step back from our life and doing an evaluation goes a long way in helping us remain healthy Christians. When we look at our actions in perspective with Christ's love it doesn't take much to see if there is any selfish way in us. Selfishness leads to weariness but service to Jesus leads to constant renewal as we serve in his strength instead of our own. Check it out for yourself and see if "love God" and "love your neighbour" are the focus of your life. Don't allow selfishness to undermine all that God has been doing in you and through you.
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