For Others

Here are a couple of thoughts that go together – a confluence of deep God-honoring challenge:

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

—Philippians 2:3-5

Lord God,
May I open my heart and life to others
so that fearful strangers might become my guests.
May I open my heart and life to others
who are very different from me.
Teach me in poverty of spirit
to quit clinging to what I think I have,
whatever it is:
my knowledge,
my good name,
my house,
my money,
or the many objects I have collected around me,
so that any who might take from me
will find me only offering gifts.

—Henri Nouwen