Best Result from Good Partnership

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Philippians 2:4

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

 

Bible Reading for a Year [bible]psalm126[/bible]; [bible]icori15[/bible]; [bible]isamu18-19[/bible]

 

Ex American baseball player Casey Stengel made a comment about the challenge of managing a professional baseball team. He said, “It’s easy to get good players. Getting them to play together, that’s the hard part.”

Each of us faces that issue. How do I blend my abilities and talents with those of other people? How do I cooperate with others so we can reach our goal? That question applies to business, to family life and to our ministry.

We know that there are individual sports and team sports. Wrestling, boxing and golf are individual sports. You’re on your own! Basketball, baseball and football are team sports. You’re only as successful as the team is. Christianity, and life really, are team sports. The key to success is knowing how to work with others.

In his letter to the Philippian church, The Apostle Paul passed on advice about successful living: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

In this letter, Paul pointedly addressed a destructive attitude—selfishness. Focus on ourselves and our own interests at the expense of others will ultimately leave any of us isolated and ineffective.

When Paul wrote the Philippians, he mentioned selfish ambition. It is the translation of one Greek word. It meant self-seeking that focuses on the question, "What’s in it for me?” That word was commonly used to describe the political world of that day.

Yet, Paul exhorted us to focus, not on our gifts, and ourselves but on others and their gifts.

You might learn a lesson from the great Italian bobsled driver Eugenio Monti who was willing to share what he’s got to help British team driven by Tony Nash which about to be out of the competition in the 1964 Olympics. Because if his unselfishness, Monti was given the first De Coubertin Medal for sportsmanship, one of the highest honors an Olympian can receive.

Jesus wants His disciples to model unselfishness. God honors unselfishness. It is the only attitude that will make us winners in the end. As Casey Stengel demonstrated with the New York Yankees, championships are won when individuals play together. It works for church and, what’s more, it works in everyday life. It will work for any of us.

 

Killing our selfishness is the key to success.