Don’t be misled by the title of this post. I really don’t have a problem with people taking selfies (though some people seem to have a real obsession with this that probably isn’t healthy). I am the world’s worse selfie taker. I never know where to look. I can’t get the angle right at all and I’m not very photogenic in the first place.
The other day, I left my classroom after lunch to pick up some students and realized that I hadn’t refreshed my lipstick after eating, so I pulled the tube from the little pouch I carry with me at school and reapplied it as I walked. Then I used the camera on my phone as a mirror by reversing the view to selfie mode to make sure I hadn’t overdone the lipstick.
The next day, my granddaughter was visiting and was doing something cute (as usual). I grabbed my phone to get a shot of her, but I was rudely greeted by the sight of my own face. I missed the moment I wanted to capture because the camera’s focus was on me.
Then I saw the parallel. When our attention is on our own dreams, our own plans, our own problems, our own agendas – we miss the needs of those around us.
1 Corinthians 10:24 says, “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.”
Philippians 2:4 tells us, “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
Romans 15:1 says, “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
It sounds to me like God isn’t much into selfies either. This is something that is difficult for me. It’s not that I mean to be self-absorbed. It’s just that my life is so immediate – so “there” – that I have trouble “seeing around it” to look at how I can be used of God to ease the problems of my natural family and my church family, as well as others that He might bring across my path. God only shows me the shortcomings in my life to help me change them and not to condemn me, so I’ll trust that He’ll begin to lead me to be more sensitive to those needs in the lives of others and to give me wisdom and insight on how to be a blessing in those situations. Do you need to check your focus too?
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