One afternoon I was at a friend’s house. It was a pretty dull afternoon. One of the children, Adam, found a bag of marbles. After he carefully examined each one, he asked me if I knew how to play. I had no idea how to play marbles, but I told him we could make up our own game. He agreed, and as we sat down to play the other two children came over to join us.

We all sat down on the floor, in a little circle of four. I dumped the bag of marbles in the center of our circle.   There were twenty-one marbles in the bag, blue, green, and yellow. All the marbles were the same size and looked quite new. I started doling them out evenly to the four of us, one for Adam, one for Amanda, one for Kelsey, and one for me. When I finished distributing them, there was one left. Adam looked at me and said, “That one is mine.”

I found it interesting Adam would think he should get six marbles and the rest of us should get five. “Why should you get more than everyone else, Adam?” I asked. “Because it’s fair”, he said. I was truly amazed. “Adam,” I said. “Tell me what you think fair means”. “Well,” he said, “It’s fair if we all have the same amount, or I have more.” I remember looking at him and wondering if he was serious. Adam really wasn’t the sort of kid to joke around much, and the look on his face said he was absolutely serious.

I thought perhaps he had misunderstood my question. So, I asked him, “If I gave the extra marble to Amanda, not to you, would that be fair?” He looked up at me and replied with a solid, “No!”.

I wonder how many adults believe the definition of fair is when all receive the same, or they personally receive more.  Simply put, that definition is actually a perfect example of selfishness.

The bible is very clear about selfish behavior. Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

It’s so easy to fall into the worldly trap of thinking of ourselves first and others last.  But God does not want us to be conformed to this world. He wants us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds, that by testing we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Wishing you joy and peace,

Lorrie

Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.  1 Corinthians 10:24