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Us, not me – winning together

Regular columnist Ruth Tong explains that we can often achieve more by winning together than by winning as individuals.

An anthropologist proposed a game to a group of children in an African tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree; got them to line up and told the kids that whoever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run they all took each other’s hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats.
 
When he asked them why they had run like that, as one of them could have had all the fruits for himself, they said: ''Ubuntu, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?'' 'Ubuntu' in the Xhosa culture means: "I am because we are".
 
In our Western culture, we tend to think as individuals first before we consider our group identity. But the culture of Heaven is a collective one – all of us will be equal in the eyes of our Father. Heaven’s culture says, ‘us’ not ‘me’.
 
Interestingly the large internet service provider Microsoft has named their free information service Ubuntu!
 
Romans 12: 5 “So in Christ we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the others”.
 
Father I’m sorry for the times I’ve been selfish. Help me to live to bless others, for the glory of your Son Jesus. Amen. 

The image above is courtesy of https://pixabay.com

 


 

Ruth TongRuth Tong is the Coordinator of Women’s Ministries at Eternity Downham Market, and is the author of ‘Love Drops from Heaven’.  Ruth regularly blogs at ruthtong.com/blog

 


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