You First
When two well-mannered adults arrive at a door at the same time, one or both will often speak or make a gesture that tells the other person: “You first.”
Longtime friends of ours recently enjoyed two weeks of vacation with their daughters and their families. Our friends’ first choice was to go on vacation with their whole family. However, their daughters’ families were not able to schedule vacations during the same week. As a result, our friends decided to vacation at the beach with their younger daughter and her family one week, and then go to a different beach with their older daughter and her family the next week. Both weeks were very special.
These grandparents decided long ago that they will do whatever works in order to spend time with their children and their families, and they have been living it out ever since. In effect, they say: “You first, children and grandchildren—your needs first.”
This attitude is in keeping with what God taught in the letter to Christians at Philippi. He inspired Paul to write:
. . . make my joy complete by being of the same mind,
maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind regard one another
as more important than yourselves;
do not merely look out for your own personal interests,
but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2:2-4
When mamas decide to homeschool their children, they are saying: “You first, my child—your needs first. I am laying other priorities aside right now to do what works best for you.”
God didn’t just tell us to look out for the interests of others, He sent Jesus to show us how. The passage in Philippians goes on to say:
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, although He existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant,
and being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-8
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