Church Sins
Part 4
Selfishness
2 Corinthians 12:19-21 (NLT) “19 Perhaps you think we’re saying these things just to defend ourselves. No, we tell you this as Christ’s servants, and with God as our witness. Everything we do, dear friends, is to strengthen you. 20 For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior. 21 Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence. And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.”
Selfishness- acting or thinking of one’s own well-being alone.
Six ways to tell that you're selfish:
- You like being in control and find it difficult to compromise.
- Giving and sharing do not come easily to you.
- Putting your partner's needs first — before your own — is very difficult.
- You hear constructive criticism as personal attacks.
- You become moody when others have the spotlight.
- Forgiving others is difficult.
Examples of Selfishness:
CainAhab
James and John
The Older Brother of the Prodigal DavidLuke 10:38-42 (NLT)38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.
39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.
40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!
42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
3 thing we need to do to beat Selfishness:
- Remember Presence of God.
2 Timothy 3:2-4 ESV “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”
- Remove every distraction.
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
- Rearrange the priorities in my Life
Philippians 3:7-8 NLT “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.”
The opposite of selfishness is selflessness.
John 3:30 “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.”
Philippians 2:4 ESV “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
1 Corinthians 10:24 ESV “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”
Philippians 2:3-4 ““Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” –John Wesley
