Victory Over Selfishness

"Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others." Philippians 2:4

This scripture has helped me over the past two years address my own issues with selfishness. It took me awhile to admit to myself that I had a problem with being selfish, or stingy as my nephew calls it. But when you are very slow to offer or give others your time, money, possessions, or to lend an ear to friend when they need to talk, then you may have to look at your heart and find out why that is.

The heart is the wellspring of our lives. When we have problem areas in our lives, we must address the issues in our heart. Selfishness is one of those problem areas that focuses on the self too much and not enough on the plight of others. When you harbor selfishness in your heart it causes you to think of all the reasons why you shouldn't help or reach out to others when they need it.

If selfishness is allowed to go unaddressed in your life for too long, even after your family and friends may have confronted you on this issue many times, you will start to see how it affects your relationships and other areas of your life. Your relationships will suffer and you may even begin to lose friends or cut off loved ones because of your unwillingness to get yourself off your mind and help others.

Projections - We See In Others What We Need For Ourselves

Why do certain people or situations trigger an emotional response in us? Maybe a work colleague is aggressive towards us and we react either by leaving the room or sitting frozen to the spot.
The answer lies in our unexpressed emotions. In childhood if our needs weren't met, for example, a parent subdued our anger with a threat or named and shamed - blaming us for things that weren't our fault - the emotion that we felt gets 'split off'.
The strangest thing is that as we grow we begin to see the split off part all around us in others yet most of us are unaware of them.
So if someone says they 'don't do anger' (or another negative emotion) and yet it seems to follow them around chances are they need to reclaim their split off part or their projection.
Five steps to reclaiming your projections:
1. Begin to notice what it is about people that get on your nerves or you just can't stand being around.
2. Are there situations in your life that bring up certain emotions - e.g, abusive relationships, getting bullied often or do you meet lots of fearful situations in your life?

Christian Codependency: Changing the Beliefs Underlying False Guilt

Are you struggling with Christian codependency? If you answered yes, then you probably experience feeling guilty often in your relationships. Codependents struggle with guilt in relationships because they hold untrue beliefs about relationships. They need to change their inaccurate beliefs about relationships to the following true beliefs:

• You are not responsible for other people; you are responsible for yourself. You cannot prevent the people you love from experiencing the pain of their actions. God wants to use consequences to encourage them to change their behavior (Galatians 6:7-8). All of us will experience pain. Pain helps us grow. Each person has the right and dignity to choose how to live his/her life.


• You don't have to meet the demands of the people in your life-no matter how close they are to you. The more a person pushes you to do what he/she wants and the more guilt, anger, threats, pouting, and pressure thrown at you, the greater the emotional manipulation. Shift your guilt into recognizing that it is wrong to give into manipulation and that God wants you to be shrewd and aware of people's motives (Matthew 10:16).

Poems About Life - Custom-Written for All Occasions

WHY?
There are so many reasons to send poems about life to the people you care about. Or to a business colleague who has dome something important that deserves recognition. Next time there is a special occasion you should sending a rhyming tribute instead of an ordinary card. You will be amazed at the reception your tribute gets. You will make someone's day and there's no better feeling than that.
HOW TO BEGIN?
Make a list of the wonderful qualities this person has. Are they brilliant? Did they discover a new green energy source that is sure to save the planet? Or did they just go through a harrowing health crisis and show bravery beyond compare? Or maybe it's someone who puts up with you when you're moody and behaving miserably and, instead of walking out on you, they give you a hug. Poems about life can be about any of these situations or thousands of others that happen daily. So once you've got their qualities written down start weaving them into a story.