When did we stop caring for others?

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬-‭17‬ ‭

https://bible.com/bible/100/gal.5.13-17.NASB1995

As I read this Scripture this morning, the question “When did we stop caring for one another come about”? came to mind.

I’d say it came about the moment we started being more concerned with ourselves rather than others. That pretty much starts at birth, it’s what we’re hard wired for. The image of a toddler’s little hand opening and closing while looking intently at an object comes to mind.

We often give toddler said thing and process that as doing something for them, but are we not doing something for ourselves as well? We don’t want to hear the crying. Often times, this can exceed our responsibility to measure whether or not giving said thing to child is beneficial or not.

We often neglect the responsibility to discern because we don’t want to hear the crying, and we neglect to look further into the situation to realize that we’re training the child to receive what they want, when they want or they cry or complain about it.

Is this not how we’re then trained to see God? We think that we should get what we want, when we want it or else go about crying or having a tantrum.

God is always more concerned about how giving us something will affect us long term. This is how we should treat others as well. It also goes to affect whether we are honest with one another. Often times we neglect being honest because we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings, but that’s not putting someone else before ourselves, it’s placing ourselves as the receiver of what we want, not what the other person may need.

I pray that this Scripture resonates and sinks in to us and motivates us to think through situations in their entirety. Not just in the moment. We must apply and adhere to the truth ourselves and by doing so, we can offer the right thing as we consider others. This was the model that Christ followed and thereby calls us to follow.

As we walk throughout this day, I pray that we love our neighbors as ourselves. Living a sacrificial life unto God, for that is our reasonable service unto the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

Get out there, to wherever you are called and be the salt and light God equips you to be.

In Christian love,