OUT OF THE BOX

This article probably describes SOMEONE YOU KNOW. Interestingly, all the main points in the paragraphs below came to me while listening to a lady complain about her friends at church. She exemplified most of the principles discussed. — Billy Long SELF-CENTEREDNESS “Self-centeredness” and “selfishness” are two different things. A selfish person wants his own way, his own advantage, pleasure, and comfort without regard for others, and does not care how it affects others. A self-centered person evaluates and judges everything according to how it relates to or affects him, and is oblivious to how it affects others. A selfish person will deliberately hurt you. A self-centered person will hurt you and not realize it. A self-centered person has great difficulty in relationships because he has inner struggles with what he assumes others think about him. He wonders what they really meant by something they said. Self-centered people only get along with people who are givers and those strong e...

In the South we address our parents as “Daddy” and “Mamma.” These are terms of endearment and less formal than “Father” and “Mother.” Although my father drew close to the Lord in his latter years, My mother, Jessie Lois Long, was always the more spiritually zealous of the two. Mamma was not shy about her Christian experience and was always ready to share her testimony or pray for anyone anywhere. Any guest in our home was a captive audience and was prayed for if he or she happened to mention an ailment or problem. Mamma once prayed for a visiting insurance agent. He received his healing right there in her living room. The family’s reputation was important to her. She was fearless when it came to sharing her Christian testimony or taking a stand for her faith, and it was important to her that no one in the family do anything that would appear to be a bad testimony or bad example for a professing Christian. I called her one night and told her that our church had a square-dance the night ...