When I first joined the Navy and at my first Training school I had a real close friend. His name was Lou and we were roommates as well as party pals. We did everything together; we studied together; went bar hopping together and we even liked the same things. It was like we were twins, separated from birth and rejoined again.
2 weeks before we graduated from our training course, he just disappeared. I didn’t see him till the last day of class. I had just finished my final tests and walked back to my empty room but it wasn’t empty. Lou was in the room and packing his things.
The reason Lou was gone was because he had gone to sick call 2 weeks ago. Lou said he had gotten sick, real sick. They admitted him to the hospital only to find he had a rare type of brain cancer. They gave him 2 weeks to live and were sending him home to be with his family. To make a long story short, he died before he made it home.
I made myself very mad, how could Lou do this to me? How could God do this to me!
• I see people lash out at waitresses, fast food workers and the like when they have had to wait to long for their food.
• I see people cutting other people off on the highway weaving in and out of traffic to get further ahead in line.
• I see people who refuse to help others out because their life is already too busy with their self-centered interests and wants.
• I see marriages that are in shambles because neither one wants to die to themselves.
• I hear of employees who steal from their employers because they feel that the employer owes them something.
• I see parents who would rather spend all their time doing their hobbies than spend time with their kids or spouse.
• I see parents who spend inordinate amounts of money on themselves and neglect to support their own children or spouse.
• I see dead beat dads who refuse to pay child support for their own children.
• I see other parents who give their kids everything they want and think this is good for them.
Romans 15:1-3 - We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
1 Corinthians 10:24 - Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Philippians 2:4 - Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
God frowns on selfish behavior and he repeatedly told us to root it out of our lives. This type of lifestyle, mindset, or attitude is not from heaven but originates from the world’s value system. Today the self is elevated and servant hood is deflated by our society and by some in the church.
People who are self-centered ask this question frequently, “What’s in it for me?” This thinking in life creates a person who is useless to the Kingdom of God. This person thinks that Jesus is his personal Santa Claus and He owes them something. This person thinks of church as the place to be served but not as a place where you give.
They point the finger at others and say – you are not a Christian because you did not do this for me!
• A person who is gripped with selfishness will always do what they want first – it will be their priority in life.
• Life will center on meeting all their whims and wants and God will always take a back seat to their wants.
• These individuals will miss church a lot for selfish reasons.
• God will not be a priority in person’s life because their god is themselves.
• These individuals will blame others for their failure to serve God.
No one is Christ-like unless he is unselfish. The Son of man “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).
I fail to see selfishness in this.
Then how can we not be unselfish?
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