What do you think about the word “selfishness”? Who does it
apply to? Where do you see it most? Does a particular person or previous
experience come to mind when you think about selfishness?
The world in which we live, conditions people to be selfish,
thinking only of their own needs. God tells us that He will provide our every
need according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19) and that we
should always be a blessing to others (Eccl. 11:2). So, when it comes to selfishness,
we may think we are not.
We must break the addiction of selfishness to align our
heart with God’s heart. An example is in the act of ‘forgiveness’. God forgives
and Jesus teaches us ALL to ALWAYS forgive others. To forgive someone, we must ditch
our own feelings about the situation, regardless of what it is, and regardless
of if we were/are right. God doesn’t care if we’re right, He’s only interested in
our willingness to lay aside our own “self” (selflessness) to allow forgiveness
to flow through us.
God loves all, so must we. God forgives all, so must we.
Even during our prayer time, what are we asking God to do
for us? What do you ask Him for? If you ask with wrong purpose and evil,
selfish motives, so that you can use those things for yourself, then you will
not receive that which you asked for because your intention (motive of the
heart) is not what God can honor (James 4:3).
I think we can surmise that selfishness does not come from
God. As a matter of fact, selfishness is the root of what I refer to as ‘The
Pride Tree’ (because pride comes from selfishness).
Before asking God for anything, examine the motive of your
heart and ask, “why is it that I’m asking for this?” Is it for you? Or is it to
get something done God asked you to do? And if you don’t know, well this is a
good time to pause, ponder and pray.
God knows what you need (for you) before you ask Him. This
means you need to ask Him for what you need and He will give it. (Matthew 6:8
& Philippians 4:19).
You must rely on Him, trust in Him, and depend on Him for
EVERYTHING! And in the doing of that, God will work out His plan in your life.
The only reason we are here on planet earth is to love God
and others. We are to be a blessing to people; it’s that simple. And that is
what God wants us to be doing.
Keeping in mind the act of self-less-ness, a great
illustration can be found by looking at the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea: The
Sea of Galilee has an inlet and outlet, it receives and gives life-giving water
from The Jordan River. There is an abundance of life in, and around, the Sea of
Galilee. In contrast, The Dead Sea only has an inlet, no outlet. It takes only
and gives nothing. Except for some microorganisms and algae, The Dead Sea is
devoid of life.
I heard a great encouragement recently, and it goes
something like this:
“God gave us two hands, one for the giving and one for the
taking. One hand should always be giving to others in need, and the other hand
should be stretched out to heaven taking from God what He liberally gives.” Thank
you Neil Diamond!
Keep in mind, God will do ONLY what you cannot do on your
own, so that He receives the glory!
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