Traveling Down the Road of Losing Sight

The Apostle Paul wrote as he was moved by the Holy Spirit, but that did not hobble him from expressing ideas at times that confound the smartest among us and dismantle the most self-assured. One such statement may be found in Philippians 2:4, "Look not only to your own interests... Consider others better than yourselves."  I can barely pull myself from survival mode long enough to acknowledge someone else, much less prefer their interests to my own. And when I attempt to do so, my words ring tinny and hollow, and even a bat could see that I'm saying things disconnected from my heart. Is Paul encouraging us to paint the clown 's face and pantomime love?  Are we to fake it with the hope that we'll eventually deceive ourselves into accepting our pasty makeup as our real face? I'm convinced the aged apostle has something much more authentic in mind. Paul does not encourage low self-esteem but no-self-esteem.  When I begin to recognize and genuinely believe that what others need and want is as important as my own needs and wants, they supernaturally become more important than my own and I have traveled a long way down the road of actually losing sight of myself.