Liberated from Navel Gazing

This morning I read this about Christ's death on the cross and resurrection:

And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. (2 Corinthians 5:15)

A thought that strikes me when reading that passage is that one of the reasons Christ died on the cross is to set us free from slavery to self, from the tyranny of always thinking about me. We no longer live just for ourselves. We live for the one who died and rose for us. Through Christ, we live too for all those other people for whom Christ died.

For years, I've known an elderly man who visits and prays with the sick from his church. He's not a pastor, just a a Christian set free from slavery to selfish priorities.

The happiest people I know are those who have been liberated from navel gazing. They're free to be human, free to connect with God and others.

I pray that someday, I'll be one of those kinds of people. If I do, it won't come through my steely resolve, but through the power for living that comes from Christ.