What is selfishness and how does selfishness affect your day to day
life?
The Bible makes it clear that we are the Temple
of the Holy Spirit and that He resides within us as, it is
written:
1 Corinthians 6:19
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Did you note the last part? We are not our own ...
That is what we will be looking into today ... With a twist. So, open
your minds and hearts and prepare to be enlightened in many ways. It
will be your choice to partake of this Truth, another choice to
believe it or not and yet another choice whether you will apply it to
your Christian Walk ... Or not.
So Long Self and Selfishness Bible Study Truth
What is Selfishness in the Bible Origin
Let's talk about a man named Job. A must read book of the Bible for
all Christians. If you have not read it I suggest that you do. Job
was a man that God called ... Perfect. After reading of all that he
endured, we learn of his never ending Faith after being put to the
test, at the request of our common enemy ... Satan. The test was to
see if Job would trade up his Faith and curse God, if trials and
tribulation were allowed to occur in his life. We learned of how Job
had some of the most horrific tribulations that one could fathom come
upon him. From the loss of his worldly wealth ... To his flesh being
tortured ... To even his children being killed.
Now, some of you that know the story may be thinking ... Wait a
second, you put the children being killed at the end of the list as
if it was the worst thing that happened. Did not Satan request that
Job's flesh be tortured after his children's death and if so, would
that not be deemed as a worse torture?
Satan thought so. See after his worldly wealth and children were
taken from him and Job did not curse God as Satan expected him to but
rather praised God. The enemy of our soul went back to stand in
line awaiting his turn to speak with our God and when it was his
turn, God pointed out that ole Job withstood the test and had
remained faithful. Satan then suggested that Job's flesh be
tortured claiming that Job did not fall because Job himself was not
physically hurt.
Selfishness Bible study tidbit of Truth ... Anyone that has ever loved someone knows that this is not Truth.
When we lose someone that we love, it hurts all over. It matters
little if it was a child, spouse, friend or even someone we love that
never loved us back. We know that the pain can be so intense
that even our flesh mourns. Then why did Satan think he would trade
up his Faith if his flesh was touched?
Satan knew exactly what he was doing. He knew of a seed of "self
love" that he had planted within mankind back in the garden of Eden
and just knew it would be the straw that would break the camel's
back. Therefore he requested that Job be allowed to suffer fleshly
torture as a last resort by having Job receive boils all over his
body that were so bad, that even his friends did not recognize him.
His wife seeing him even said just curse God and die. Tsk tsk.
Obviously, if Job did not surrender his Faith after the loss of his
children, he was not going to trade up his Faith for what is a lesser
torture to one who can see. Job continued in his Faith and God put an
end to the test and restored Job with twice the wealth that he had
and the same amount of children that he had prior to Satan's plot to
destroy Job's Faith. Job passed the test.
We are all tested in life in like manner. Maybe not to such extremes
but it oft times feels like it during the trials that we encounter. I
would like to talk today about some of the trials that we experience
as we sojourn down this Christian Walk and seek ways to hold our
Faith during the trials as to never doubt and even curse God.
Do you remember that I just said that Satan planted a seed of "self
love" within mankind back in the garden of Eden? It was Satan that
spoke through the serpent in the garden of Eden ... Some question
whether it was Satan or just a snake. Here is wisdom ... The enemy
speaks thru vessels just as God speaks through His chosen vessels.
Here is one scripture that verifies it was Satan speaking in the
Garden of Eden. When referring to Satan, (Ezekiel
28:12-19) God said ... Thou hast been in Eden, the Garden
of God ...
What is Selfishness in the Bible Concern
Let me explain the "self love" a little more. Due to past choices
of the two original humans ... We, as humans, have been bestowed with
what we will call original sin:
Romans 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
This is a seed of selfishness within each of us which originated from
Satan's deception of Eve by telling her that if she defied God and
ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that she would be
like God. Eve then gave the fruit to Adam and he too chose to partake
of that which God said not to. Let us look at the actual words to
feel what happened:
Genesis 3:1-7
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the
fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of
the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye
touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely
die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to
make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew
that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons.
What is Selfishness in the Bible Danger
Due to this Choice made by the first man and woman, known as the Original Sin ... The sin is now
in the flesh of all mankind and when we are born, we are destined to
death ... unless we make the choice to believe in Jesus. When we
become Christians, we are reborn and receive Salvation
and Eternal Life not because of something we did or our works, but rather because of God's Love and Grace. This unconditional Love known as Grace was established with God's creation of the absolutely awe inspiring and extremely exciting New
Covenant which is demonstrated and explained in the New Testament. This New Covenant has the destiny of death, made void by the Blood
of Jesus Christ.
Let's look at a few of the words that Satan said ... And the serpent
said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that
in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Satan was referring to what God said:
Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat
of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die.
Satan spoke of carnal matters while God spoke of Eternal matters.
Because ladies and gents Adam and Eve did die even after partaking of
the fruit. They would no longer live forever. They died Spiritually
and then physically years later. So, as God said ... They would die.
They did not become as God. So Satan lied.
Did you note that Satan also said that they would know the difference
between good and evil? That was true. But again from a carnal view as
if it was something good but he failed to tell the whole Truth which
is that they would then be responsible for their choices IF they ate
from the tree of Knowledge of Good and evil because they would know
sin ... Was sin.
Selfishness Bible Study Choices
Selfishness In The Bible Fears
It is kinda like a baby crawling over to an electric socket and
messing with it. When the parent sees the child, they run over and
pull the infant away from the electric socket, gently warning of the
dangers. but ... When that kid is 5 years old and knows right from
wrong and still does it, the parent then becomes angry and it is time
to learn a lesson. Even tho it is the same child doing the same act.
The child knew. That makes all the difference in the world. That is
why it is called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Sooooooo thanks Eve. Way to go Adam. We now have the seed of the
Original sin within each and every one of us. It is in the genes.
Kinda like when someone says awwwwwww, look at little Joey, he
has his daddy's eyes. Another says yes, and his grandmas smile. Still
another says yep and his aunt Cathy's disposition. Well guess what
little Joey ... You got a little something else too, courtesy of your
descendants Adam and Eve.
We see now that we awake each day with the Original Sin cleaving to
our flesh. This spiritual "thorn in the flesh" if you will. A
constant crying out for us to do things our own way. The desire to
ponder on things that we want. The manner of seeing everything around
us as how it affects us. The passion to do things asked of us only if
we had gain or not at all unless it was our idea. In a word ...
Selfishness.
We all have this original sin within us and it is something that we
are to overcome with Truth. You see our enemy absolutely adores
con-fusing us. He will even use scripture as He did with Jesus when
Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness for 40 days:
Matthew 4:1
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil.
Did you catch that? Tempted by the devil. Let's consider that for a
sec. When we are going thru our own trials and tests, it is actually
us being tempted by Satan. So Job was also being tempted by Satan in
a vain attempt to get Job to surrender his Faith and curse God.
So Long Self and Selfishness Bible Study Research
What is Selfishness in the Bible Source
Satan offered Jesus selfish desires. Everything from answering the
calls of the flesh by suggesting that Jesus eat while He was fasting
... To jumping off a building as to test God's promises ... To
offering Jesus fame and fortune in the world.
Satan uses this same method of temptation with each of us ... He
constantly has our flesh call out to be catered to. He constantly
gives us thoughts to question God's promises. He constantly gives us
thoughts of fame and fortune. You know, the temporal stardom that the
world teaches us to strive for. Be a Sports star, a beauty queen, the
richest man, the nicest house on the block, the best at this and
that, etc. We are taught to seek to BE in that temporal limelight.
Sounds more like a falling star does it not? I mean check it out ...
Something that shines and people say wow as it streaks before them,
with all it's own glory and then it is gone ... And the next
contestant steps up. The new kid in town has arrived and the star
that was ... Is a has been. Nobody thinks of them any more. They have
traded up eternal for temporal.
What did Jesus say in response to Satan's attempts to tempt Him? He
quoted Truth ... When it was suggested that He turn a stone to bread
and eat ... Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone but by
every Word that proceedeth from the mouth of God ... Which means that
we are never gonna be satisfied by answering the calls of the flesh
because it will never end. There is something deep within us that
needs God's Word and mankind has attempted to fill that void with
temporal things. We all know that just does not do it.
Even in what some deem as a "perfect world" ... You have a great
spouse. You have plenty of money, loving kids, nice home, etc. ...
There is still that longing for more. It is your soul searching for
something Eternal ... It can only be filled with God's Word. It is a
deep planted seed just as the Original Sin was but this seed is
planted by God within your soul.
So Long Self and Selfishness Bible Study Training
What is Selfishness in the Bible Deception
In answer to Satan's request to have Jesus test God's promises by
leaping off of a building ... Jesus told Him that we are not to tempt
God by questioning His promises. God is true to His Word but you
change the playing field when you choose to doubt or test Him. Simple
rules boys and girls ... He is God and we are not.
When offered the worldly fame and fortune ... Jesus said ... Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve ...
Let's be real shall we? You are gonna serve a master. Whether it be
the devil which planted the seed of Self or God who planted the seed
of Love and cultivated it with Grace. To attempt to con-vince
yourself that it is anything different is ... Deception.
Think about this for a sec. Even Jesus was tempted. Who are we not to
expect the same? When we are tempted, as Job was and as even our Lord
was we should choose to do what Jesus did and that is to overcome the
circumstance that was presented with Truth.
Job said something that we should all ponder on more and even make
it part of our state of mind and heart.
Job 1:21
Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return
thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the
name of the LORD.
Paul echoes this Truth:
1 Timothy 6:7
For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out.
So Long Self and Selfishness Bible Study Test
What is Selfishness in the Bible Path
Think about just how true these words are. We are just sojourners
here on Earth. We are not owed anything. Nothing is ever ours. So we
see a totally diff way of thinking than that which we have been
accustomed to thinking.
This brings us to love ... When we love someone; We must ask
ourselves why we love them. Is it the kind of Love that God has for
us? Or, is it that we want to deem them as ours? And if so ... Is it
the call of our flesh being answered yet again?
I am not talking about sex, I am talking about wanting to be wanted.
The carnal instinct to have someone want and even desire us. Oft
times, once that is achieved, we find ourselves uninterested in that
person and seek others to want us.
Is not this type of love selfish? Now what if we stay with a person
that we love and this person is taken from us whether it be by
distance, divorce or even death? How is it that we are so hurt at
times that we question our own Faith?
Let's take the worst case scenario ... Death. Let us say the person
we loved was a Christian. When they die, do they not go to Paradise?
Why then do we mourn for the ones that we loved that died when we are
supposed to know that they are happy and safe. Is it not for selfish
reasons that we mourn?
Think about it ... Thousands of Christians die every day and yet you
do not mourn for them as you do for those that have come across your
path in life. Why is that? Because you deem them as your spouse, your
child, your friend ... Yours.
What if we had a different mindset. The one taught us by a man that
God called perfect and another man that was by far the most potent
human tool of God at bringing in the sheep. Hear their words yet
again ...
Job 1:21
Naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the
LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
1 Timothy 6:7
For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out.
So Long Self and Selfishness Bible Study Counseling
What is Selfishness in the Bible Help
Did you know that Jesus said there is no marriage in Heaven? So all
of those who imagine that if or when your spouse dies, there will be
this great reunion once you arrive in Paradise where you and your
spouse are back together in each others arms, to live happily ever
after. Uh huh ... Best check the facts. Tho it is a quaint little
picture, our Lord Jesus said quite the opposite. Check this out:
Matthew 22:30
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in
marriage, but are as the Angels of God in Heaven.
In other words, when you pass from this realm to the next, you no
longer have the desire to serve self but rather become as an Angel
and seek to please God. Perhaps you should get used to this by doing
so now, my friends, please ponder on this for a minute. How
many thoughts do you have every day that seek to please you and how
many seek to please God?
Now, there is nobody judging you here as we are all guilty of this
because of the Original Sin within us. But, we are taught that we
are to Renew our minds as to overcome this. We are to have a mindset
where such things are not allowed to touch our precious Faith.
Consider Job's test.
The words of the Apostles taught us to rejoice in trials and
tribulation ... They knew this Truth that is being shared with you.
Now the unbeliever next to em probably freaked out when they came out
with stripes on their back from being whipped, and yet they were
praising God. They must have thought em crazy ... They are. They are
crazy for Jesus. A Love that surpasses all understanding.
So let's do a little Selfishness Bible study math and put all this together ... We must
change the way we perceive the trials and tribulation that we are
sure to experience by remembering that we came with nothing and will
leave the same way. Nothing is ours. It is all ... HIS. It was all
created to glorify Him ... not us.
Even you are not yours. Remember what we learned at the start of this, What is Selfishness Bible trek for Truth?
1 Corinthians 6:19
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
My friends we have all been bought with a very high price. The Blood
of the only Son of God:
1 Corinthians 6:20
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God's.
A very heavy price. Listen to Him. The Selfishness Bible study message is this; We are not here to serve our own selfish desires but
rather to glorify Him. He is worthy. If it were not for His eternal
Love for His children. Our enemy of the soul would own us and my
friend, that is one unpleasant concept. What is Selfishness in the Bible? The opposite of what God chose to do.
Please consider what has been shared with you today and if you find
it to be Truth you should choose to apply it to your Christian Walk as to obtain and maintain peace within.
Say your farewells. Say ... So Long Self!
