When did life become all about us? Really? How have we made this about ourselves? It’s so easy to insert myself into every situation, and when it’s about me, is it really about Jesus anymore?

The Holy Spirit working within us leads us to think little of self and much of Jesus. The less I think about me, the more I’m available to be guided by God’s spirit to end up precisely where he wants me to be. But me constantly thinking about myself really gets in the way.

A few years ago, I came face to face with one of the most humble human beings who simply showed me how to get over myself. He showed me how to get out of my own head and into the will of God. How to overcome the little voice that tells me I can’t, and lean into the voice that says this is bigger than me and I’m being invited to be part of it.

His name is Jim, and he was the owner of a little coffee hut along the road on the way to the North Shore. His hut was nestled among the food trucks selling fresh scampi shrimp and pineapple smoothies, surrounded by honey bees, wild yellow canaries, and palm trees. He sold an iced coconut mocha that made my taste buds sing.

I shared the story of my encounter with Jim the day after I met him, then I returned the next day and asked him to listen. Since then, we have been friends. We text one another occasionally with prayers and praises, and each time I go to Hawaii I seek him out for that reminder of what humility looks like.

Jim reached out to me again this week with an update and a praise. God had gotten him through cancer and is now bringing him to a new season of life with fresh purpose. He asked if I could share with him once again the episode of our encounter, but as you may know, going back and finding a devotional that was over 1,000 episodes ago is nearly impossible.

So, I did some digging and I found my notes! Notes that need to be shared again!

Let me tell you about Jim, because when I tell you about Jim, I’m really telling you about Jesus.

On Jim’s little coffee stand on the North Shore of Oahu was a purple wooden, hand painted sign that read, “If Jesus Could Save a Wretch Like Me, He Can Save ANYONE!” He had full size bibles stacked on the counter, free to everyone.

A conversation unfolded with Jim, where I asked him to share his wretch story with me. He said, “My story is much the same as many others. I was living a selfish life, hurting everyone else along the way. I drank a lot of alcohol and created hurt everywhere I went.” He said, “Jesus had to leave the 99 to come look for me hard. I didn’t make it easy on him. But he still came.”

He told me he was given the gift of repentance.

Woah … the gift of repentance. Did you know that’s a gift from God? Jim explained it like this … If you get pulled over for speeding, you apologize to the officer as he gives you a ticket and you promise you won’t do it again. The next day, you speed again, just hoping to get away with it. The gift of repentance is the difference between hoping to just get away with it again, and truly wanting something totally different.

The gift of repentance allows us to see the damage we are creating, and turns our hearts towards God and the souls all around us. The gift of repentance shows us life isn’t about us.

Repentance is a gift from your Heavenly Father who wants you to live in the fullness of life he created you for. When you receive and walk in the gift of repentance, your life becomes the most beautifully balanced and grounded example of humility and love.

Acts 11:18 “God has given the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.” It’s a privilege to get to want to do better. It’s a gift from God, and it leads us to life. And remember yesterday’s devotional on the release from slavery to sin. Through Jesus we are given the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, and the Spirit makes us WANT to live better. Not just get away with our old ways, but change our old ways into new ways because we’ve been made new from the inside out. That is the gift of repentance.

2 Timothy 2:25-26, “Hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” Again, God GRANTS repentance to radically change our lives.

Have you ever asked God for the gift and privilege of repentance? This gift will take you out of the traps of selfish living and lead you to live that open, expansive, and limitless life Jesus came to give you. A life out of your own head, and into the fullness of everything God invites you to partner with him in.

HONEY, IT’ REALLY NOT ABOUT YOU. GET OVER YOURSELF.

Jim told me once God hunted him down and gave him the gift of repentance, he wanted to make everything he did about God and not about him. But, what could he possibly do to make his simple life about God? How could he use his little coffee hut for God’s work? That’s when he felt a prompting to offer bibles for free.

So simple … and that little voice told him it was so silly. What would everyone think? Would he look foolish? Would he be considered weird? So, he hesitated, and once again, his desire to honor God was twisted into everything being more about him than about God. He felt embarrassed and ashamed, knowing who he used to be and questioning how God could ever use someone like him.

As humble as that sounds, it’s the same path of self-centered living. Me. It’s about me. It’s about how I might look. It’s about my shame and my regret. It’s about my doubts and my questions. And when it’s all about me, it’s not about Jesus.

So, in obedience, Jim put out the bibles, and he painted his sign, fully displaying his story and humbly pointing to a relentless God who rescued him and would do the same for absolutely anyone else!

With a tear in his eye, he shared with me how he still struggled to believe God could use him. How a painted sign could make a difference. How a free bible could really ever change a life. And then he said it again, “But it’s not about me. It’s about God, and he can do anything he wants to do.”

Since offering his little coffee hut business to God, he said he had been blessed beyond measure in ways he could have never imagined. Was he doing anything radically different? Nope, he was just offering what he had to God and decided every day the little voice that tried to make it about himself wouldn’t win the battle.

Do you realize the work the enemy does in your life with that little voice that tries to make it all about you? That one slips right past our radar and trips us up without detection. Let’s shine a light on that weapon of hell and see it for what it is. Girl, what have you made about you instead of about Jesus?

How could God use you and I if we just got over ourselves? What if we stopped caring about what others thought about us, and more about how God wants to love through us? What if we stopped trying to put on a show, and used every part of our story to honor God in complete humility?

You see, Jim shares evangelism in a more beautiful and authentic way than I’ve ever seen. Is God using him? You bet he is! I didn’t need him to tell me about Jesus or give me a bible, but I needed him to remind me it’s really not about me or what anyone else thinks about me! It’s not about what big things I can do, it’s about my willingness to do even the smallest things for God right where I am with exactly what I have.

Jim told me his greatest hope is to stand before Jesus at the end of his days, and hear Jesus say, “Jim, because of your life, this child is here too.” I have a feeling there will be more than one of God’s children there as a result of a wretch who knew he was a wretch, and humbly and fully accepted the gift of repentance, painted his little sign, shared his simple story, and offered free bibles.

Ask God for the gift of repentance. May he grant you the divine gifting of getting over yourself and never being the same again. May you offer what seems totally insignificant to you, and allow a great big, powerful God to use it in ways you will never know this side of eternity.

The enemy doesn’t get to play in that old shame and guilt anymore. Your story will be shared. And every time you share, may you remember more and more, it’s really not about you. It’s about God and the souls he has placed around you!

Here’s to my friend Jim, my fellow wretch who has been hunted down by Jesus and saved and another day of life covered by the gift of repentance, with a timely reminder that this isn’t about me at all.

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