I’m sure this will come as a complete surprise to you, but it appears that people love to watch television reality shows. Yes, it’s true and has been ever since the debut of the reality hit, Survivor, where we watched the contestants scheme, plot, and back-stab their way to the million dollar prize, hoping to avoid being voted off the island. We’ve watched The Housewives of This or That City, The Biggest Loser and so many more, there’s not room to list them all. The point is, the winner of any reality show is always the person who adopts the best “it’s all about me” attitude.

While that may be a successful strategy for playing a TV reality show, the “all about me” philosophy is devastating to the family. Today, more marriages are terminated in divorce than by the death of a spouse. Thirty-five percent of our nation’s children live apart from their biological fathers. That is the real reality of the “all about me” strategy.

Christianity rejects the self-centered attitude and teaches that the winning strategy is really all about submission. We are to first commit to Jesus Christ, and then we are called to submit to Him. As part of that, we are called to submit to our government leaders, employers, and spiritual leaders. While husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loves the church, wives are called to submit to their husbands; and children are called to submit to their parents. And within the family, there is to be mutual submission to one another, seeking the best interests of other members of the family before ourselves.

The really good thing is that when our outlook changes from “it’s all about me” to “it’s all about God and family,” there is peace with God and a better chance for peace within our families, as well as harmony with our fellowman. When that reality is real, we don’t just survive – we soar!