It’s Not About You

[It’s Not About You]( Current Teaching Series [Rethinking Your Life]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [It’s Not About You]( By Rick Warren — 02/02/2024 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd%20like%20to%20share%20a%20Daily%20Devotional%20from%20Pastor%20Rick%20with%20you&body= “Our message is not about ourselves. It is about Jesus Christ as the Lord. We are your servants for his sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5 (GW) The more you lead a self-focused life, the more you’re prone to discouragement. Every time you forget that it’s not about you, you’re going to get prideful or fearful or bitter. Those feelings will always lead to discouragement because they keep you focused on yourself. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:5, “Our message is not about ourselves. It is about Jesus Christ as the Lord. We are your servants for his sake” (GW). It’s not about you! God put you on this earth, and he has a message he wants to declare to the world through you. But your life message is not about you. It’s about Jesus Christ. I chose those four words—“It’s not about you”—to start The Purpose Driven Life because that’s the most countercultural message you could give in today’s world. Nearly everything in society—songs, video games, TV shows, news stories, and advertisements—says you’ve got to think about yourself first. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t put that sentence in the book because I had no idea that, for the rest of my life, I was going to be constantly tested on that phrase. I have to repeat it to myself 20 times a day! When someone praises me, criticizes me, misjudges me, or disagrees with me, I have to remind myself, “It’s not about me.” Why? Because when I focus on me, I’m going to get discouraged. Instead, as Paul says in today’s verse, we are servants for Jesus’ sake. That means we are motivated to serve others because of what Jesus has done for us. God is always more interested in why you’re doing what you’re doing than he is in what you’re actually doing. He cares about the motivations of your heart. Why you’re doing something always determines how long you’re going to do it. If you’re motivated by selfish ambition, that will never be good enough. You’ll eventually get discouraged and quit. But when you’re motivated to do something because of how it advances the Gospel and glorifies Jesus, you will have the encouragement you need to see it through. [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - How do the people closest to you encourage you to serve others with Christ-like humility? - How does Jesus’ love for you motivate you to think of others more than you think of yourself? - How does God encourage you when you have the right motivation? The post [It’s Not About You]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. 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[LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: Why You Need to Think About What You Think About Message 2: Learning to Think Like Jesus Message 3: Choosing to Manage My Mind Message 4: Rethinking the Problem of Sin Message 5: How to Win Over Persistent Temptations Message 6: Defeating Discouragement Message 7: Changing How I Think About Pain Message 8: Recovering from Traumatic Experiences [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( Rick Warren is the founding pastor of [Saddleback Church]( one of America’s largest and most influential churches. Pastor Rick is the author of the New York Times bestseller [The Purpose Driven Life](. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. 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