From the Cross: Selfishness

by David Chadwick

Selfishness is engrained in the heart of every human being. We are all selfish in one way or another. Isn’t selfishness at the heart of all sin? A bent toward self. A desire to want what we want when we want it.

What happened in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God and his authority, was rooted in selfishness. I tend to think selfishness and pride are synonymous. A need to be #1. Always needing to be right. A belief that the world revolves around me. It is a mindset that leads to destruction!

The solution to selfishness is this: You must be born again (John 3:3). That is what Jesus said so clearly. You are incapable of experiencing the bounty and beauty of the kingdom of God unless you have been born again. Your selfishness must die and be crucified on the cross with Jesus. Then, and only then, can you be raised to a new life that commands a pursuit of living a life that is bent toward serving Jesus and others. It is a supernatural event. It’s something that only the Holy Spirit can do. But it CAN be done. It really IS possible.

The journey toward SELFLESSNESS is a process. Remember, dying on the cross took several days. Sometimes we forget that everything is not a quick fix. But as we daily choose to die to self and daily choose to live for Christ, our self becomes weaker and Jesus becomes stronger in us. Selfishness dies and serving rises!

That’s what Paul meant when he said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that when we are in Christ, we are a new creation. This means we have been born again in the Spirit! The old has passed away. It’s dead. Crucified with Jesus on the cross. And the new has come! Jesus’s resurrection life is now inside of us and has made us new. This new life changes our hearts, gives us a new vision for God’s kingdom, and invites us to play a significant role in his story as a new creation!

God’s antidote to selfishness is being born again! And when the entire created order has been born again, the kingdom of God will have come back to earth from heaven! It will happen one day! Begin to prepare yourself now for the new heavens and the new earth by ridding your life of selfishness!

From selfish to servant. Free from self to serve.

That is the result of the gospel of Jesus Christ.