True Greatness

What's the meaning of greatness? Or even, how do you achieve it? It is really a simple problem to solve, but not always the easiest to execute. According to Jesus, the only perfect man to ever live--and therefore the greatest, greatness is putting others first:

"Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives
Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great."
(Luke 9:48)
"If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and
servant of all." (Mark 9:35)
"Therefore whoever humbles himself as this
little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18:4)

At first this comes across as anti-self, but a closer look at the meaning yields a description of anti-selfish. What Jesus meant was to put other's needs before our own so that our focus is not entirely on ourselves; he did not mean for us to neglect our own needs entirely. Jesus modeled this for us: He washed the disciples' feet showing the humility that is greatness, but the ultimate example is His sacrifice for His friends (a.k.a. "us") giving up everything he had to meet our need for salvation, knowing, however, that His Father would take care of His needs. Like I said before it's one of the simplest things to do in life, but it also happens to be the hardest. Strive for greatness; it's worth it.