self-absorbed

You may not think that self-absorbed would be something used to describe me, but it is. I'm ridiculously self-absorbed. I like the attention of a job well done. I like when people tell me I'm good at things. I like when people find me attractive or smart or funny. I want the whole world to see me in a certain light and I go out of my way to make sure they do. I don't advertise my faults. I don't tell people how bad of a procrastinator I really am. They don't see all the jobs I half-arse. They don't see when I needlessly snap at Vergil because I'm in a bad mood.

I'm my own ultimate spin doctor and I hate to say it, but I'm good at my job.

In the end, we're all self-obsessed, self-absorbed, self-serving and selfish. Our sinful nature allows us to be no other way.

But what do we do to counter this? What steps do we take to become less self-absorbed? I think Jesus gives an answer in today's passage (Mark 9:30-37). He says,

Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.

Jesus wants us to look beyond ourselves and our own selfish ambition. He wants us to look to children, to the disenfranchised, to the needy and unwelcome among us. When we do that, we stop thinking so much about ourselves. When we do that, we become more like Jesus.

It's interesting to me how Jesus took very little care of himself in the ways we tend to take care of ourselves. We never hear about him going out to buy music or clothes or even food. The one thing we do hear is the times when Jesus goes away to be with God, his father. That's how Jesus takes care of himself - he plugs into his Father.

Jesus seems to put little stock in obsessing about self. His focus is on ushering in the kingdom of God. His focus is on touching people's lives so that they can be complete and whole again.

What can I do to be more like Jesus? What can I do to become less self-absorbed? I think I'm gonna start looking for more opportunities to welcome 'one such child' to start...