Me first. Mine. Gimme.
Selfishness.
Do you know anyone who struggles with it? Most of us do. It could be a friend, family member, boss, colleague, or reflection in our mirror... It isn’t something we’ll readily confess to but once it takes root... it’s VERY hard to break free from.
Pastor Bill Hybels (of Willow Creek Community Church) describes a disturbing trend of many in our society:
"It is a "me-first” mind-set. This mind-set says indulge yourself, fulfill your desires, satiate your appetites, pursue pleasure, take off all restraints. As much as we might want to pretend that this value system died in the eighties, let’s be honest: it is alive and still thriving.
With this mind-set comes an elusive promise: If you seek first your own good and satisfy your own desires, then you will be happy. In print, on television, and in the movies, over and over we hear the lie. The road to contentment, satisfaction, fulfillment, and true joy is marked with a street sign flashing "Me First." ... People are pathologically self-centered and ignore the needs of others. The "me-first" mind-set is controlling many lives, even the lives of those who call themselves followers of Christ."
The Bible talks about the dangers of selfishness.
“For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.” James 3:16
Evil of every kind. Greed. Love of money. Pride. Ungratefulness. A hardened heart. All symptoms of putting ourselves first. It’s a tough pattern to break. The enemy will convince us that it isn’t selfishness...
It’s self-preservation
Getting what’s “ours”
If we don’t look out for us, who will?
Keeping it “fair”
We earned it. We deserve it. Right?
As always, God’s word tells us the truth. Throughout scripture we are told that holding on too tightly to what we think is ours only causes problems. Our lives fall into depression, we covet, feel envious, less complete, and emotionally uneven. The desire not to share causes and reveals deep trust issues... that somehow if we hold on tighter, we’ll have more.
Problem is, our hands are so full of our stuff...there’s no way to catch the blessings that God wants to give us. So how do we defeat selfishness?
Give.
“Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.” Proverbs 22:9
Generosity is the key. Hold onto what matters tightly... your relationship with God, your family, your health... Everything else can be given away. Serve the poor. Leverage your possessions. Give with cheerful intentionality. When we release ourselves to be generous... we unchain the anchor of “more” and replace it with a good night’s rest. More importantly, we are reminded that what we have really isn’t ours... it’s on loan from God... so that we can change the world for Christ with it.
Only you know if you have let the weed of selfishness grow in your heart. If so, take some time to today and pray over it...asking God to help you make the challenging but necessary changes. I’ll be praying too.
