Philippians 2:19-21 – I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare, they all seek their own interests not those of Jesus Christ.

THEME OF THE DAY: THE UGLINESS OF SELFISHNESS. I want to stamp a label on this nugget. It reads “Warning. Contents below may cause discomfort, uneasiness, and bring about significant conviction.” I also want to put some small print of encouragement below the serious warning. “Encouragement. If the contents below are recognized, repented of, and relentlessly fought against, great joy, delight, and satisfaction will result in the heart of the heeder.”

Without a doubt the ugliest thing in the life of any human being is to be controlled by selfishness; a life absorbed and guided by everything me, my, and mine. And without a doubt, the most contradictory of things in the Christian is for a person to profess to be a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ, and live with life prioritized around self-desires, self-interests, self-fulfillment, and self-satisfaction. Basically, for a Christian to live a selfish life is to be controlled by self-love, not Christ’s love – a great Biblical contradiction. Such a life sends a confusing message to all people who observe this type of Christians. What they see is not the reality of the true Christ – the self-denying Son of God who is the Savior of the world, but a people living for themselves, not unlike themselves, but with one distinction; professing Christians add a little “Sunday religion” into their lives. R. B. Kuyper said, “Selfishness is not only sin but lies at the root of all sin.” Selfishness caused Adam and Eve to fall in the Garden of Eden and it has wrecked families, marriages, churches, and societies ever since. Nothing good ever comes from being selfish and this ugly sin is not removed from a person who becomes a Christian. The Apostle Paul exposes it as alive and well in God’s people in today’s scripture. Let’s consider some serious warnings about this sin from Paul’s words.

First, a high majority of Christians live selfishly. Listen to the Apostle Paul, “For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for our welfare, they all see their own interests.” Remember the place where Paul is writing from – a jail in Rome. He is indicting the selfish Christians in Rome. However, he is not saying “No one was serving the Lord selflessly.” He is using hyperbole, but the point is clear – few were denying themselves for Christ and others. And his words ring true today in the 21st century church. One of the glaring needs in the church are laborers for the Gospel and sacrificial servants in the various ministries God raises up in our churches (Luke 10:2). There should never be a “help wanted” sign put out for any ministry in our churches. Every Christian is privileged, and commanded to serve in a local church. Are you? Would you be defined as a self-centered consumer of the ministries in your church or a self-denying helper in the ministries of your church? No Christian is to be “unemployed” in the church. Everyone has a function and responsibility which will meet a day of accountability before the Lord.

Another thing the Apostle Paul tells us about the sin of selfishness among Christians is this is a conscious choice they make – “they all seek their own interests not those of Jesus Christ.” Stop right now and think about this truth. It should make us shiver as on a frosty winter day in January. It should cause our eyes to open with shock that this might define us. How can it be possible for someone who knows the selfless Christ to not strive to follow His example? How can we make conscious decisions to put the interests of self above Christ and others when He put our interests and those of others before His comfort and ease? Beloved, Christ died to free us from the ugliness of selfishness, not to allow us to continue in its sinful bondage. Self-centered and self-serving Christians are oxymorons.

So, the ugliness of selfishness. It is real and alive, but it is also defeated at the cross of Christ. The realization of its death is up to us. We will choose to live selfishly or selflessly. Choose wisely. Our joy and Christ’s honor depend upon it.

PRAYER: “Father, show me the ugliness of selfishness that I might know deeper repentance and forsake this great sin.”

QUOTE: “Nothing is more a contradiction than to profess to be a Christian and live for oneself”