Some precious little ones I know (who shall remain nameless) have this tendency to yell out in unison and with much vigor, “I want that! I want that! I want that! I want that!” anytime they see a commercial or ad for a toy that catches their eye. They even get flustered if I don’t look up to see exactly what it is they’re putting in their order for. The other day, I threw them a curveball by responding, “What are you going to get for me?” They looked at me in stunned silence, obviously not having given a thought to giving vs. receiving.
As adults, we, at times, are not so different. I can tend to think of things I want and how to attain them far more often than I care to admit. The Kingdom of God mentality points us to a far better way. It tells us to look to the needs of others first, to put ourselves last. And God couldn’t have exemplified it more beautifully than through Jesus leaving the glory of heaven to come to earth and lay down His life for us. Now that’s humility and love.