It's not about me...It's not about you, either!

Every Sunday night we have an event at our church for the youth called Pier 7. The youth room is called "The Harbor," so these small groups are accountability groups where we "dock" every week and keep up with each other and study together. My group is small-just me and three high school girls. This semester we have been studying the book by Max Lucado called "It's Not About Me."  I've really gotten a lot out of the book myself and I hope my small group has. I noticed almost immediately that when people heard the title of the book, they thought we were doing a study on getting the students to take their eyes off of themselves and to put them on others, so that they would notice other people's needs and not be self centered. As I heard these comments from people, (mostly parents), I remember thinking that I wished all the parents would read the book, too. I get a little defensive when people act like teenagers are selfish all of the time because, in my eyes, most of the teenagers that I'm around are seldom selfish. They are, for the most part, looking outside of themselves more often than those of older generations....but, I digress. The book is not about thinking of others as more important, it's about the fact that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is about Him. Once we get that worked out in our hearts and minds, it's easier to see the needs of others and act on what God is telling us to do about those needs. It's easier to live a Godly life, not in order to find favor with God, but because a Godly life comes when our eyes are constantly on Him. I love that if I can take my eyes off of me and my own little world and set my eyes on God, I end up with a better perspective on my own life. If I'm the center, the world is small indeed. If He is the center, the world is....well, you get the picture. Like I said, I've been learning a lot:)