It's Not About Me - Dina Sleinman

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

I would like to share four little words that are life changing, revolutionary, challenging, and even frightening, but they are also the most freeing words you will ever read.

It's not about me.

It's not about me? Seriously? Are you kidding? This is the most elemental facet of our Christian faith. Being born-again, dying to self, dying to the flesh, making Jesus the Lord of our lives, putting away the old man, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, all these basic tenants of our faith clearly demonstrate that it is not about me. It's all about God and doing His work to minister to others—accomplishing His purpose.

American culture tells me the exact opposite. It says that it’s all about me and about feeling good. It tells me that I'm number one and I should look out for myself, maybe my family, but rarely farther than that. American culture has colored our Christianity negatively in this area.

“It's not about me” is very freeing, though. When it's not about me, I can let so many things go. Issues I struggle with, stress, and worry, begin to fall away when I focus on Christ and let Him take hold. When I let Christ rule, place Him in control, I lose my pride, greed, and selfishness. Jealousy melts away, competitiveness and pressure fade. The more I forget about me, the more I release fear, guilt, rejection, and hurt feelings.

That's a whole lot of freedom for four little words to accomplish, and yet the list goes on. I’m still tempted to sin, but it’s much easier to resist with an “it's not about me” mindset. True maturity in Christ comes through an understanding of these words. Once you understand, you can relax, enjoy life, enjoy God, and let go of everything else.

If it’s been about you, let go and make it about Him.




Dina Sleiman holds a MA in Professional Writing from Regent University and a BA in Communications with a minor in English from Oral Roberts University. Following her graduate studies, Dina took additional creative writing classes through Old Dominion University's MFA program. Over the past fourteen years, Dina has taught college writing and literature, as well as high school and elementary classes in English, Humanities, History, and Fine Arts. Her poetry has been published in a number of anthologies. Dina has also written songs, video scripts, and plays, which have been produced and distributed nationally as well as locally.