When Getting Older is a Good Thing

OK ... I'll admit it ... I am turning 43 this year~ and it is a good thing! Before I go on to explain why let me, in all honesty, put a disclaimer in: I am not talking physically! Physically, getting older is ... well literally a pain! What I am referring to is spiritually and emotionally. For years, birthdays and Christmases have been difficult for me because they bring with them the question of ... "What do you want?" What do I want? At 42 very little. In a life time where I have had so much of what I have wanted ... I have found myself letting go of the need to want more. Only recently have I started to see where this might be leading though ... altruism.

Altruism comes from the Italian word altrui which means others ... and is defined as:

1. Loving others as oneself. 2. Behavior that promotes the survival chances of others at a cost to ones own. 3. Self-sacrifice for the benefit of others

What is this going to look like in my life as I continue to grow? I am not sure. I do know that surfing various blogs, especially Katie's blog has opened my eyes and heart to this desire to do something that would make a difference. I do know that it feels right. How could it not? A dear friend of mine recently made the comment that we, as believers here in America, tend to forget that the body of Christ is worldwide. What is our part in this worldwide body? What is my part? Can we sit and do nothing when our brothers and sisters in Christ are starving in the far reaches of this planet? What does it mean for each of us? I don't know. God does. Let Him awaken in you the altruistic spirit that He has created ... let Him nurture it and reveal truths to it that will make doing nothing impossible.

The more I have pondered it, the more I am convinced that we were created for altruism. It fits. It heals. It gives us meaning and purpose. In surfing about it, I can a cross a medical article that revealed scientific findings that, "Altruistic (other-regarding) emotions and behaviors are associated with greater well-being, health, and longevity." We are made for it.

Like I said earlier, I really don't know what this will look like in my life. I do know that God is blessing me with a desire to do something to help. I do know that the desire has grown since its planting. I do know it is right. Which leads me to my verse for the next two weeks:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
Proverbs 31:8 (New International Version)

May we all seek to be part of the "whole" body of Christ and in doing so willingly embrace the responsibility of it.