Daily Power #54

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matt. 16:25)

When I was a kid, we didn’t have selfies. Even that word is relatively new, simply referring to any picture you take of yourself, usually with a mobile or smartphone. Most people post selfies online to show off something: the fun they’re having, the cool people they’re meeting, the new clothes they’re wearing, or just their latest purchase or personal accomplishment.

While selfies have been around for a few years, coinciding mostly with the combination of smartphones and social networks, they seem to keep building momentum. I just discovered more than 300 million posts using the hashtag #Selfie—and I’m sure there are more since I checked!

It’s no exaggeration to say we’ve become a selfie-obsessed culture.

If your latest selfie needs to be touched up a little, you can just apply a filter to it. You can change the color saturation, brighten it, soften it, or make it black and white. You can even get rid of red-eye and erase that second chin! You can change the color of your eyes and raise your cheekbones. Basically, you can filter your life and show people, “This is the photoshopped me that I want you to see.”

Selfies aren’t bad—I just worry that they cause us to focus even more time and attention on ourselves than on other people. If we want to love others like Jesus, then we have to become selfie-less.

Power Lift

Jesus, today I pray you would allow me to take my eyes off of myself and focus instead on those people around me. Let them see less of me and more of you.