It’s My Toy!
2 Corinthians 12:20 I do this because I am afraid that when I come, you will not be what I want you to be … I am afraid that I will find arguing, jealousy, anger, selfish fighting, evil talk, gossip, pride, and confusion there.
Looking after ourselves, taking care of our own needs, would have to be one of the most common of human traits. And yet at some point, we all end up stepping over the line, into an area that we call “selfishness”. And that, well that can’t be a good thing.
Back when I was in the Army, causing a self-inflicted injury was a serious offence. You could be locked up for hurting yourself. And yet as I look around, there are so many people with self-inflicted pain in their lives today. It just doesn’t make sense. Why would you want to live that way?
The answer is because we’re selfish. We want stuff for ourselves. It starts when we’re really young. One little boy is playing with a red fire engine, the next kid comes along and takes it away because he wants it and the first one screams.
And that pattern, sad to say, repeats itself over and over again in our lives. Selfishness is when you want to hang on to what you have or take what someone else has. It lies at the heart of conflict. Arguments start that way. So do wars. Of course there’s nothing new in any of that. This is what the Apostle Paul wrote in a letter to the church in Corinth.
2 Corinthians 12:20 I do this because I am afraid that when I come, you will not be what I want you to be … I am afraid that I will find arguing, jealousy, anger, selfish fighting, evil talk, gossip, pride, and confusion there.
The opposite of selfishness is selflessness, generosity, hanging onto things loosely; not trying to take what the next person has.
Might I ask you, what selfishness do you have going on in your life? Do yourself a favour. Lay it down today. You’ll have a much better life … seriously.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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