Selfish is innate to the human condition! Due to the nature of sin, we are ALL sinful. That usually manifests itself as different types of selfishness. Pride is the default of the human heart. Selfish and “alive” are synonyms. That includes YOU and ME!

Under selfishness is pride. We think that whatever we want, desire, or are doing is more important than others’. We think, but don’t say… “Don’t inconvenience me with you… you and I should both agree on how important I am”. Selfish people get married and have miserable lovers… that’s just the way it works.

On a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is Jesus… how would you rate your selfishness?

Our world and lives encourages selfishness.

Martin Luther said “Sin is the self bending in on the self”.

Selfishness & Pride

Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.”

Proverbs 16:5: “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.”

Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

• “In pride… we don’t love or serve our spouses… we USE them for our desires and purposes.”
• “Self esteem”, “self activation”, “positive self image”… all are pride.
• In American culture, pride has become an extolled virtue, not a vice.
• God’s Plan A is humility. His Plan B is humiliation.
• We should pray to be clothed in humility. This enabled us to put on the cloak and disposition of Christ.
• In Western  culture, pride is something that should be aspired to instead of repented of.
• You can never be proud of your humility…. that defeats the reality of humility! However, you can be someone humbly pursuing humility.