No Good Comes From Selfishness

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. [Philippians 2.3-4]

There is no eternal good that comes from selfishness. To the contrary, selflessness is Christlikeness.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality  with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. [Philippians 2.5-8]

I think, most of the time, we simply do not comprehend the magnitude of love demonstrated by Jesus Christ. This problem can only be the result of one thing: our own selfishness. Our selfishness causes us to measure Christ by our lives (instead of the other way around). For this reason, we wander through life with no measure of true love and therefore no meaning or understanding.

Everything we have been indoctrinated with by our society is based on self-preservation. Benevolence is only understood from the position of surplus and self-exaltation ("look at me"). We are saturated with the wrong notion that in order to help others, we must first help ourselves... And, so, we do help ourselves, but never seem to get around to helping others. And then we wonder why faith and relationship with God seem so distant!

For all the additional good that Jesus could have done as God in the flesh, He elected instead to die for mankind. Ironically, the Bible clearly teaches that His followers are the extension of all the good He did and fully intends to continue to do... but the power to do that is only found in like selflessness. For all the power associated with Jesus' name before the Cross, we are told that it was nothing compared to the authority associated with His Name after the Cross!

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [Philippians 2.7-11]

So powerful was the selflessness of Jesus Christ that just the mention of His Name now takes precedence over every other power and authority known!

Jesus' disciples could not at first understand how the death of their "king" could serve any good purpose. However, in time, it became obvious that Jesus' death served every good purpose forever! So powerful was the affect of Jesus' example that many of His followers (starting with His disciples) throughout history gladly embraced death so that others might benefit. They would have it no other way!

Embracing death is the ultimate act of faith. Everyone has "faith" until death is on the table! Just let that soak in...

Father, thank You for Jesus and His example of selflessness that is just as powerful today as it was at Calvary. May we measure ourselves by the selflessness of Christ instead of trying to measure Him by our self-centeredness.