I have just returned home from a housegroup; I wasn’t sure if I was going to blog today but after our housegroup I felt I should.

In Philippians 2:4 it says “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”

In my first reading of this, this evening, I started to question my own actions and thoughts at the moment, thinking that maybe I was being selfish. However, in a second reading I read the words “only” and “also”. It’s not that we shouldn’t look to our own interests, but that they shouldn’t be our sole focus. I was encouraged to think that actually but looking after our own interests, so often that then allows us to be of blessing to others, and to care for the interests of others.

The reason I wasn’t sure about writing this week is because of the death of Queen Elizabeth II; however this passage brought to mind some of the key things that many people have been saying in the many programmes of the last week. One thing that has really struck me is that people said that she didn’t ‘try’ to be queen, she accepted that it was who she was and that was the life she lived. How often do we try to be something or someone other than who we are? But also if we go back to looking after ourselves to serve others; the Queen knew how important it was to spend time with the family, and time away from the formalities – as much as possible.

We are called to be a blessing; we need to bless ourselves so that we can bless others.