Does my life?

The goal of life is to become Christlike. The purpose of the church is to help the members of it to become Christlike. I've been studying Romans 14 for the last two days and I've really been thinking about this a lot. It talks about having our own convictions based on our maturity in faith, but me living by my convictions can only go so far.

If something that I am not convicted of as being sin causes my brother or sister in Christ to stumble, to not become more like Christ because of something I do or say, I have failed in my responsibility, and honestly I feel that it is sin. I can't demand my rights at the expense of the Kingdom. Just because something is not a sin for me doesn't' mean I have the freedom to do it.

Philippians 2.3-4, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." I need to look out for my brother, I need to help him become more like Christ no matter what that means for me. If something I enjoy doing causes someone to not become more like Christ, I will stop.

I want to advance the Kingdom, not me. I want to become more like Christ and help others to become more like Christ as well. My life is meaningless if it doesn't center on those two things. If I live with any other goal and strive towards any other purpose I am demanding my rights over my responsibilities. I have no desire or intention of standing before God one day and having to explain to him why something in my life, something that was not a sin for me caused someone else to end up in hell.

We as the church need this attitude. The goal is not to demand our rights and to advance our lives over the kingdom. Our purpose is to strengthen the body of Christ by becoming and helping other become more like Christ. Are we willing to set ourselves aside and humbly serve? Are we willing to have the attitude that Christ had and set our rights aside and wrap a towel around ourselves and pick up a basin of water and wash the feet of one another?

Who are we living for?