Living a God-Centered Life

It's All About Him
Pages 228-235

The final lie of this chapter seems to have found its way into the fabric of our selfish society -- "It's all about me." Everything revolves around me; nothing is more important than my wants, my needs, my desires!

This attitude has broken marriages, families, and hearts everywhere. The truth for believers is that this life is not all about them; it is all about God. He is the reason we exist, and we should live to honor and glorify Him.

40. The lie: It's all about me.

It's not enough for us to be the center of our own universe. We want to be the center of everyone else's universe as well -- including God's.

When others don't bow down before us and devote themselves to promoting our happiness and meeting our needs, we get hurt and start looking for alternate ways to fulfill our egocentric agenda.

The Truth: God is the beginning and ending and center of all things. All things were created by Him and for Him. It's all about Him!

Colossians 1:16-18 (Amplified Bible)

"For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together).

He also is the Head of [His] body, the church; seeing He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, so that He alone in everything and in every respect might occupy the chief place [stand first and be preeminent]."

The Truth: My life is dispensable. I was created for His pleasure and glory.

Philippians 1:20-21, "...according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

A Penetrating Question

How would your life look if you lived wholly for the glory and pleasure of God and the advancement of His Kingdom?

Once we agree with God that we exist for His pleasure and His glory, we can accept whatever comes into our lives as part of His sovereign will and purpose. We will not resent, resist, or reject the "hard things," but embrace them as friends -- sovereignly designed by God to make us like Jesus and to bring glory to Himself.

We will be able to look into His face and say, "It's not about me. It's about You, Lord. If it pleases You, it pleases me. All that matters is that You are glorified."