SELFISHNESS
Today, one of
the greatest threats to evangelical preaching comes from the invasion of the
church by Adler-Maslow, etc., self-image, self-worth dogmas. Passage after
passage in the Bible has been distorted in order to conform to these teachings,
with the result that you end up preaching man and his supposed worth rather
than Christ. Sometimes that "worth" has been seen as intrinsic,
sometimes it has been considered to be the result of salvation… Intrinsically,
then, man has no self-worth. Whatever self-worth he pretends to discover in
himself is only illusory and, in the end, as Ecclesiastes says, vanishes.
Anything worthwhile arises from salvation (fearing God) and sanctification
(keeping His commandments). So the idea of intrinsic self-worth must be
dismissed.
Preaching With Purpose,
Zondervan, 1982, p. 188.
I would like
to buy three dollars worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or
disturb my sleep, but just enough of Him to equal a cup of warm milk or a
snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man
or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the
warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper
sack, please. I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please.
Wilbur Reese
Selfishness
is when we pursue gain at the expense of others. But God doesn't have a limited
number of treasures to distribute. When you store up treasures for yourself in
heaven, it doesn't reduce the treasures available to others. In fact, it is by
serving God and others that we store up heavenly treasures. Everyone gains; no
one loses.
Randy Alcorn
Excerpted from The Treasure
Principle by Randy Alcorn © 2002 by Eternal Perspective Ministries, p. 15-16.
God doesn't
look at just what we give. He also looks at what we keep.
Randy Alcorn
Excerpted from The Treasure
Principle by Randy Alcorn © 2002 by Eternal Perspective Ministries, pg. 63.
The root of
our sinfulness is the desire for our own happiness apart from God and apart
from the happiness of others in God. All sin comes from a desire to be happy
cut off from the glory of God and cut off from the good of others.
John Piper
Out of the
freedom from worry that God’s generosity provides comes an impulse toward
simplicity rather than accumulation.
John
Piper
I can tell
you without any fear of contradiction or oversimplification that the root cause
of all marriage conflicts is selfishness. I can say that because there's
probably no better practical synonym for the concept of sin than selfishness. Sin
(i.e., selfishness) is at the heart of all marriage problems.
Lou Priolo
The Complete Husband, Calvary
Press, 1999, www.calvarypress.com.
Covetous greed will make you angry and manipulative… Complacent, satisfied greed makes you care less about what really
matters; because it lulls you to sleep... Anxious
greed [will make you worry].
David Powlison
Seeing With New Eyes, P&R Publishers,
2003, p.114.
We have
within us a self that has its poison from Satan – from hell – and yet we
cherish and nourish it. What do we not do to please self and nourish self – and
we make the devil within us strong… Look
at your own life. What are the works of hell? They are chiefly these three:
self-will, self-trust, and self-exaltation.
Andrew Murray
The Spiritual Life. Christianity Today, v. 33, n. 2.
Let this be
thy whole endeavor, this thy prayer, this thy desire –
that thou may be stripped of all selfishness, and with entire simplicity follow
Jesus only.
Thomas à Kempis
The love of
God can be a profound answer to just about any human struggle, but sometimes we
can use it in such a way that it becomes a watered down version of profoundly
rich truth. For example, sometimes, because of shortcomings in us rather than
Scripture, this answer misses the call to “consider others better than
yourselves” (Phil. 2:3), or it ignores personal repentance. Sometimes it still
allows us and our needs to be at the center of the world, and God becomes our
psychic errand boy given the task of inflating our self-esteem.
Edward T. Welch
When People are Big and God is
Small, P&R Publishing, 1997, p. 18. Used by Permission.
After the
fall into sin, people remained image-bearers, but Adam’s disobedience brought
fundamental changes to our ability to reflect God’s image. The direction of the
human heart became oriented not toward God but toward self. In the garden, man
began repeating a mantra that will persist until Jesus returns. Adam said, “I
want.” “I want glory for myself
rather than giving all glory to God.” “I love my own desire rather than loving
God.” This came to be known as covetousness, lust, or idolatry.
Edward T. Welch
When People are Big and God is
Small, P&R Publishing, 1997, p. 148. Used by Permission.
Self-serving
needs are not meant to be satisfied; they are meant to be put to death.
Edward T. Welch
When People are Big and God is
Small, P&R Publishing, 1997, p. 162. Used by Permission.
Yet
I dare say that, for Americans, greed is to sin what North Dakota is to U.S.
states – it’s easy to forget that it exists. We confess lust, anger, maybe
pride, maybe self-righteousness. But greed? It’s
whitewashed. It’s camouflaged. We use words like “lifestyle” or “ambition” or
“the American dream.”
Jonathan Leeman
Greed and Liberality, Tabletalk, May 2008, p.
14, Used by Permission.
Greed
is idolatry. Greed is worshiping, trusting, loving, and obeying worldly
treasures rather than God. Greed is breaking the first two commandments. Greed
is placing your faith in money rather than in Jesus (Matt. 6:24).
Jonathan Leeman
Greed and Liberality, Tabletalk, May 2008, p.
15, Used by Permission.
How
do we flee greed? We flee, for starters, by recognizing that the idolatry of
greed is rooted in a diminished view of God. That’s why we love and worship the
idols of gold instead… We flee greed by looking to the liberally giving God of
the Gospel. We have received all we need in Christ! To the extent then that we
find our joy and rest in this God of the Gospel we are able to give liberally
with love (see 1 Cor. 13:3). Just as greed defines pagans, increasing measures
of liberality defines Christians (see Matt. 25:31-46).
Jonathan Leeman
Greed and Liberality, Tabletalk, May 2008, p.
15, Used by Permission.
It is always self who gets irritable and envious and resentful and
critical and worried. It is self who is hard and unyielding in its attitudes to
others. It is self who is shy and self-conscious and reserved.
Roy Hession
The Calvary Road, Christian Literature Crusade, 1950,
p. 22. P.O. Box 1449, Fort Washington, PA 19034-8449. Used by Permission.
Anything that
springs from self, however small it may be, is sin.
Self-energy or self-complacency in service is sin. Self-pity in trials or
difficulties, self-seeking in business or Christian work, self-indulgence in
one's spare time, sensitiveness, touchiness, resentment and self-defense when
we are hurt or injured by others, self-consciousness, reserve, worry, fear, all
spring from self and all are sin.
Roy Hession
The Calvary Road, Christian Literature Crusade, 1950,
p. 29. P.O. Box 1449, Fort Washington, PA 19034-8449. Used by Permission.
If our goods are not available to the community, they are stolen
goods.
Martin Luther
Selfishness
is the controlling force of sinful living. It is this motive which pulsates
through the natural mind, emotions and will – self-pleasing, self-serving,
living for self.
Walter J. Chantry
The Shadow of the Cross –
Studies in Self-Denial, 1981, p. 11, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle,
PA.
The roots of
this depravity are quite evident in very young children. Babies may not show
all the ugly outworkings of sin, but their
selfishness is quite apparent. Any time of the day or night they will howl when
their little egos are annoyed. Brothers and sisters have noticed how small
children are self-seeking. When treats are being given, a “me first” attitude
prevails. Small children want the chief attention. It is all self-serving. This
all-demanding self-will matures into that of a grasping adult. Though clever
devices will make the selfishness polite and genteel, all of life outside of Christ
is for one thing – self!... Self is the idol to which
all men naturally bow.
Walter J. Chantry
The Shadow of the Cross –
Studies in Self-Denial, 1981, p. 12, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle,
PA.
Selfishness
is the cause of all sin – the opposite of all holiness and virtue… Selfishness
is contrary to the habitual temper of our Lord Jesus Christ. “For
even Christ did not please Himself” (Mk. 10:45).
John Angell James
Christian Love, 1828.
The person
who refuses to compromise under any and every circumstance is obstinate,
unreasonable, and selfish. That sort of strong-willed inflexibility is sinful
and has been the ruin of many relationships and organizations. But when it
comes to matters of principle – moral and ethical foundations, biblical
absolutes, the axioms of God’s Word, God’s clear
commands, and the truthfulness of God Himself- it is never right to
compromise.
John MacArthur
The Book on Leadership, 2004, p.
51.