Selfishness…The Current World Trend Killing Love

Selfishness…The Current World Trend Killing Love            Kelly Durant 8-28-13

1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him?

2., 3. (Picture of the 2 tied horses trying to eat 2 piles of hay) Each one is pulling the rope to his side but they cannot reach it to eat until finally they agree to eat together on one side at a time, then they can eat both piles.

Selfishness is placing concern with one’s self or one’s own self-interests above the well-being or interests of others. Doesn’t that describe many people you and I know! The goal of the Christian is to die to our own flesh and from the death of our ego and self, allow Christ to live in you (and me!) As described by C.S. Lewis, one of the greatest Christian apologists and former atheist of our modern day, “Selfishness is the opposite of altruism or selflessness”. Our goal is to have a love that is so sacrificial, so dedicated, that it has no limits to what it will give for the good of others in our community.

To define selfishness in psychological terms, it points to a lack of empathy. People who don’t care for others well-being or feelings are capable of manipulation and they might even be a psychopath who have no behavioral controls, empathy, or remorse, and these anti-social behaviors are very damaging to family and social relations. 

I researched in Wikipedia and found the “Game Theory” outcome of social interaction. “Given two actors, oneself and someone else, there are four types of possible behavior directly impacting the welfare of the actors: selfishness, altruism, spite, and cooperation. Selfishness is harming someone else in order to help oneself; altruism is harming oneself in order to help someone else; spite is harming oneself in order to harm someone else; cooperation is helping someone else and also helping oneself.”

We conclude in the cartoon picture that our horses learned cooperation, are we any smarter than horses? Some people are, yet some are stubbornly selfish!

4. Today in the entire world we in observe governments, religions, and authorities in community clubs, sports teams, and all groups plagued by a small select group of callus and calculating people who are prideful and corrupt. They are participating in the group functions but not for the common good of all, which is the premise of the existence of the group, but they are participating in the community entity for their own personal selfish interests. In the press we hear about the scandals daily!

The current unprecedented corruption, which is pure selfishness, is at an all-time high in all sectors of the community in all countries. Selfishness foments hate and division in communities and in relationships of any kind. Selfishness is an abomination to God because it is an indifference to the suffering and destruction of our fellow human beings. It is in the end selfishness is the absence of love which is an absence of God, for God is love! (I John 4: 8) We live in a world headed for the apocalypse due to the absent of the knowledge of God!

5. The attitude and trends today in the world are functioning on the worship of materialism and greed within an essentially spiritually devoid social environment. There is the increasing antichrist spirit out there that projects itself through the main media, movies, popular music, and polished advertising. The message is if one can’t get all of what one wants, then one is justified to get it however means possible disregarding the abuse done to others. (sin, obviously, is no issue)! What a nobody you are if you are not living the romanced stereotypical high-life of the Hollywood role models, drugged, divorced and in and out of rehab centers!

The current abominable and accepted attitude is that somebody is going to have to pay for the unmet selfish expectations! What sick self-serving-ness! Theft, perversion, and abuse within family members is killing our previously so what healthy society and Christians need to rise up and confront the self-serving evil doers! Get involved! If not stopped, we will see more and more people joining in the organized crime destroying our family members to get what they want!

The unrealistic lifestyles of the extravagant few plant the seeds of selfishness and dissatisfaction within the common populous. The lifestyles of the top 100 politicians, sports and movie stars are offensive are unattainable by the 99.9999 % of us. This dynamic of extremes seems to give some people the idea that they have the right to disrespect those around them and use you for their ambitions; it’s the callus idea that is okay to grab whatever they can from you or someone a little better off than them because you have more than what they do and they deserve what you have just for the taking. It started in Russian in 1917 and spread to a dozen places like China, Cuba, Latin America, and now it’s in our society. Don’t forget the commandment, Exodus 20:17

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

6. Extreme selfishness, or narcissism, is increasing in our society and, like gas on the fire, the media loves to provoke the class warfare, race warfare, the ‘fight for your own’ divisive message. This is Satan’s old plot is to divide and conquer! Jesus describes our current day in Matthew 24:12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

We are in this terrible situation as a society due to a lack of love. God is love and love is not an option: it is something you should just do because God commanded it! Sadly, selfish unloving people of laugh and joke that they will party with friends in hell, but the reality is hell is a place with the absence of God, or anyone, and the fire of pure darkness of a soul in solitary confinement is a perpetual torment I do not wish on any one! In Jude we read that it is in chains in perpetual darkness, that the eternal soul will remain without love, only the produce of the selfish self exists!

You have heard the phrase ‘live and let live’, that is what love does with no self- motivations. The highest law of God is to love Him and your neighbor yourself, but few people, we deduct from observation, really learn in this life: how to love another as much as they love their own self! Most people, sadly, are just selfish!

7. I recommend that you personally cry out to God and ask Him to give you more love for others! If you love as he commanded, everyone around you will feel it, people will see your authentic-ness and get a blessing from you, and you will have good works to back up your proof of love. A Christian that does not love is not a real Christian and is a person living in sin! People see others sins but not their own. Selfish people are actually insane, blinded by their own ambitions!

The people in the world are without excuses today for their unloving, selfish behavior! Before Jesus walked the earth, people might have said, well, no prophet or man of God has given us an example of total love and sacrifice so I don’t have to love and sacrifice. But when Jesus came and freely performed miraculous healings, gave us life transforming teachings, and the example of laying down his life and dying on the cross, no one can deny anymore that that was not pure love!

Sadly, there are too many people out there who are too quick to complain about sacrificing a few hours, or a few dollars to help a needy cause or the church. It is up to us as Christians to change this selfish attitude by being an example ourselves of love and sacrifice. The selfish unloving people will eventually be ashamed and we, in contempt, will observe the reaping of their consequences. God expects each one of us to do our part to shine His love!

8. Remember the rich young ruler that claimed he was perfect and obeyed God in every way? Jesus challenged him to not be selfish and to give it all away to the poor. Matt 19: 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Jesus on purpose made an example of how not-to-be out of this young man who probably lived out the rest of his life feeling guilty to prove that you cannot boast “I am in good with God” for all my obedience without a total commitment which will love until it hurts. Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You can’t serve God and riches. Jesus made it clear that you are either selfish, or selfless, and to prove you are identifying with His love, He requires proof of it, proof of a life that you sacrifice for God’s use.

Jesus knew that the world would always be plagued by successful & rich selfish ambitious people who are good intentioned (but ineffective), un-sacrificial, and self-centered, so he brought to light that God will not tolerate selfishness and a lack of compassion on the suffering. Compassion is love and God requires it.

 9. What has caused Christianity to be rejected by some people today? Some of the disdain is from jealousy of the church’s combined wealth, power and influence, some rejection comes from a clash of worldviews from another religion’s belief system, and some rejection has some justifiable roots because Christians have not been loving, sharing, and compassionate with others.

Like it or not, quite a few people have had a bad experience with the Christians; this is due to someone being rude to them when they tried to connect, or someone was indifferent when they were suffering needing help, or someone did some selfish act proving to them that Christians are false and hypocrites. How sad! Never let yourself be guilty of being a stumbling block for others!

The churches of today should do what Gideon did when he chose his army of 300. Judges 7: 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

As Christians maybe we should just count on the generous and dedicated few to get things done! Often times you can accomplish more with less and we don’t need massive mega-churches, mega-governments, or community groups that are infested with selfish self-serving, unproductive, unloving, non-soul-winning people. Christianity gets a bad rap over the prideful selfish unloving uncompassionate people who boast their own goodness yet they refuse to surrender all to Jesus proving their love and compassion. Expose it: change it!

10. Here is what is making everyone fed up and sick with all the entities in society: the deduction that selfish people are doing things not the right way, but in their own comfortable and unproductive way being out-of-touch, with no accountability rendered for what they do. God has entrusted each of us who are Christians with talents and treasures and if we are selfish with them we will always be spiritually immature, deficient, and without rewards in heaven.

This verse is important in Proverbs 11:24 One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

Are you sharing your love and your personal things when necessary?

Ask God if you have been heeding the conviction of the Holy Spirit to give more of yourself, sacrificing more for God and others as time goes on. The only way to change the world is to be the change yourself!

When someone hears about how you sacrificially served another in need with food, or something, it brings conviction and then others want to get on board too! Selflessness breeds more selflessness and this means simply catching the love of Jesus and transmitting it on to others who will do the same! Are you a selfish psychopathic condemned reject useful to no one not even God, or are you a loving, serving, generous imitator of Jesus generous love and compassion?