SYNOPSIS: To this day, my all-time favorite football player is Gale Sayers, the “Kansas Comet”. Gale not only was a star running back for the University of Kansas, in the early 1970’s he ran circles around defenses as a pro playing for the Chicago Bears—literally. If you ever get a chance to watch film of Gale, do it! It’s as if the man could run in two directions as the same time. Gale was also an incredible human being, whose life philosophy was captured by the title of his autobiography, “I Am Third.” What is the “I Am Third” philosophy of life? Simply this: God is first, my family and friends are second and I am third. That sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Jesus, in the Great Commandment, said as much: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Project 52—Memorize:
Philippians 2:3-4
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
To this day, my all-time favorite football player is Gale Sayers, the “Kansas Comet”. Gale not only was a star running back for the University of Kansas, in the early 1970’s he ran circles around defenses as a pro playing for the Chicago Bears—literally. If you ever get a chance to watch film of Gale, do it! It’s as if the man could run in two directions as the same time. Gale was also an incredible human being, whose life philosophy was captured by the title of his autobiography, “I Am Third”.
What is the “I Am Third” philosophy of life? Simply this: God is first, my family and friends are second and I am third. That sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Jesus, in the Great Commandment, said as much:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Not only did Jesus issue that as a commandment for his followers, he modeled it as a way of life. Philippians 3:1-11 is a short but stunning description of the “I Am Third” principle on display in the life of Jesus. That was fundamentally how Jesus lived, it was at the core of who Jesus was, it is how Jesus is now presented to the world through the lives of his followers—or at least, should be. Simply put, Jesus’ life and ministry was characterized by “I Am Third”. His orientation was others!
What about you? Is that your life-philosophy, too? Not just in theory, but in practice—are you “others” orientated?? I hope so! I hope that for me as well. It is not a philosophy that is easy to pull off because of the gravitational pull of our selfish nature, but we have been given the Holy Spirit to boost us beyond our sinful atmosphere into the orbit of “I Am Third” living.
Others—that is the Christian orientation.“I Am Third—that is the fundamental philosophy of the authentic Christ-follower. God first, others second, me third—from heaven’s perspective, that is the most powerful use of a human being’s life.
“I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” ~William Penn
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