What's in it for me? - How to build meaningful relationships in the city?

Pragmatism is the philosophy which emphasizes the importance of results, consequences, utility and practicality. -William James

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."-Philippians 2:3-4

(1) Check my attitudes in relationships (v3)
(a) Avoid selfish motives (v3a)
Selfish motives mean gaining advantage at somebody's expense or gaining upperhand through selfish underhand.
We need to root out the "What's in it for me?" attitude. (James 3:16, Psalm 119:36)

(b) Value people for who they are (v3b)
We cannot value people when we constantly think we are the greatest.
Humility is not degrading ourselves. it is the appreciation of God's work in us.
We will never be able to value others until we know how valuable we are to God, because people who don't know how valuable they are end up "de-valuing" others.
Jesus knew His identity and His destination, hence He could serve other people.
There are 3 types of people:
1. background people - people in the 'backdrop', people we don't notice
2. machine people - people who have functions in our lives, like the bus drivers, the canteen staff, etc...
3. people-people - people we know personally, deeply; we know more and more of them as we walk with God more.

(2) See the interest of others (v4)
Change the "What's in it for me?" attitude to a "How can I serve you?" attitude.
Naturally speaking, when we share, we seem to lose out; but supernaturally speaking, we gain.
The more we learn to give our lives, the more we find our lives!
Value people, put other people's interests before self.
When we worship Jesus more and more, we become more like Him.