Difficulties Week 7

Selfishness

Question for Community Groups
1. In what areas do you struggle with being selfish?
2. In what areas have you been taught to be selfless, by who and in what situation?
3. What deeper issues do you deal with?
4. What are some consequences of selfishness have you seen in your life?
5. What application points do you need to put into practice?

Greatest thought is self preservation, no one has to teach you to meet your own needs you just do.

1. Examples of Selfishness-
-Luke 10:29-32 priest and Levite, (Time) Luke 12 (Money Stuff)
-Gen 4:9 Cain (I am not concerned about him) (Lack of Concern)
-1 Tim 5:6 this passage helps us to realize that although people may seem to have a full life because they have so much…they are actually living a life of death. (Emotions)

Things we are selfish with...stuff, money, time and emotions(this one is difficult because we tend to manipulate others with our emotions to get our emotional needs met.
Dr. Robert Anthony “The one who loves the least controls the relationship”

2. The deeper issues-
Romans 2:8 maybe an unbeliever,
Greed (selfishness) is the logical result of the belief that there is no life after death. We grab what we can while we can however we can and then hold on to it hard. Sir Fred Catherwood
2 Tim 3:2 sign of the times. we will increasingly see that this will only get worse, they will love self, worship self and only care about themselves. Think about this…technology has only made us more selfish, because we want things right away and can’t wait. It makes us selfish.
(when is the last time you saw an advertisement that appealed to the fact that you can benefit others?) The slogans appeal to you
James 3:14-16 tapping into the wrong wisdom, from the world rather then God. Christians fall prey to this all the time. The big lie going today is that it is all about you. Whatever you would like to do, however you would like to live, if you are sincere in your beliefs whatever they are it is fine. It also affects Christian theology that some are teaching that your pleasure and happiness is God’s ultimate concern
This philosophy is called Hedonism is a school which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good.
3. Consequences of Selfishness
Matt 23:25 woe, exclamation of grief, (you are on the wrong path and it will leave you wanting) this is what Jesus says
They were Hedonists

James 5:1-6 things will eventually fall apart
In its January 25, l988 issue, TIME provided an insight on selfishness and its corollary, sharing. Speaking about the introduction of the videocassette recorder, the article said, "The company had made a crucial mistake. While at first Sony kept its Beta technology mostly to itself, JVC, the Japanese inventor of the VHS (format), shared its secret with a raft of other firms. As a result, the market was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the VHS machines being produced."
This drastically undercut Sony's market share. The first year, Sony lost 40 percent of the market, and by 1987 it controlled only 10 percent. So now Sony has jumped on the VHS bandwagon. While it still continues to make Beta-format VCRs [interestingly a higher quality technology] Sony's switch to VHS, according to TIME, will likely send Beta machines to "the consumer-electronics graveyard." Even in a cut-throat business, sharing has its rewards.

-Damages the Body The work of the “body” cannot and will not be done if people only think of themselves. 1 Cor. 12:25-26

-Wastes our Time and Focus Luke 12:16-21 Tear down and build new, life may be demanded…when we are selfish with our possessions it is pointless, due to the fact that You do not last on this earth.

When we are selfish it hinders us being able to speak the truth to others. Because we are always thinking of ourselves.
Blaise Pascal “Those who do not hate their own selfishness and regard themselves as more important then the rest of the world are blind and the truth lies elsewhere”
GOSPEL

4. The ideal-The biblical call is selflessness,

-Be #2 Phil 2:3-8 Put others first as Christ put you first.
This is a choice because no one has to teach you to think about yourself but living a selfless life is Jesus’ desire for each one of us.

- We must decrease- John the Baptist John 3:29-30
“The selfishness must be discovered and understood before it can be removed. It is powerless to remove itself, neither will it pass away of itself. Darkness ceases only when light is introduced; so ignorance can only be dispersed by Knowledge; selfishness by Love.” James Allen

When we start to love Jesus more then we love ourselves we will live a less self centered life and more of a Christ centered and others benefiting life at that point we decrease.

-Focus on Jesus- Ps 119:36 “testimonies” what the Lord has done. When we focus in on Jesus and who He is and that what He has done we begin to realize that He is the one who should get the glory and focus and those blessing should flow out and we should benefit others. We then understand we have nothing to be selfish about because it is all from Him and belongs to Him