Skip to main content

Selfishness: “The Devil Made Me Do It.”

 When we are children we are dependent on others to meet our needs and when we don’t get something we want we get upset. The problem is that we have a whole generation of adults who have not learned the lessons of selflessness. We are told now that if we aren’t looking after number one, then there is something wrong with us. We are being taught that our needs are more important than other’s needs, and adults act like children now, trying to control and manipulate others in order to get their needs met. It’s all about a rights society that we even try to control all aspects of society, government etc. until we get our deserts before dinner.


We are not learning the lessons that previous generations learned, that we are interdependent and we need to live our lives in an unselfish way. When there is a limited amount of cookies at a party, we should be learning how to share, not petition the party host to go out and buy an abundance of cookies for everyone, even though it might be a hardship for the host to do. We are not being taught the value of things anymore, we just want more and more, and when we don’t get it we throw a tantrum. 


I’m giving examples from childhood because we should be teaching our children values that help shape a just society for all ages. If you ask me, the problem is selfishness. You can say I am selfish in wanting a more just society, but when you live in a more just society, everyone benefits. When people are constantly demanding their rights, they fail to learn the value of gratitude. When we practice gratitude, we become thankful for our blessings, even though currently we may be in a serious need. God gets the glory when we are more thankful and less demanding! 


The other option is to keep demanding things from others, demanding things from our government, but this only makes us proud, and consequently invites the judgment of God, in the same way that a disobedient child invites discipline from his or her parent. Why would we continue to act as naughty children and teach our children how to do the same, when we can be less selfish and not concerned only about ourselves, and reach out to others in need, and reap the blessings of a life more aligned with what God wants? Amen. This is Mike.


Comments

  1. So very true. I see it in my children. The Bible says in the last days that children will be disobedient to their parents. I believe this is rooted in selfishness.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Age of Brokenness.

  We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Parable of the Ten Virgins.

 Matthew 25:1-13 I have discovered a remarkable interpretation of this parable that I would like to share with you. The story in the Bible goes like this:    “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.   2  Five of them were foolish and five were wise.   3  The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.   4  The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.   5  The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6  “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7  “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.   8  The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9  “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy som...

The Existence of God

  Since the beginning of time, man has learned about the existence of God. It began in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, however when they sinned, they died spiritually and their closeness with God was severed. In Genesis 4:26 it reads “Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD.” Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve, so it’s fair to say that not too long after mankind fell, we also called upon the Lord.   From that time until now, mankind was closer to God then, but it’s a modern shift that the world is in the state it is in now, mainly unbelief, because even 30 years ago from now, mankind was closer to God. It is also true that in ancient Israel’s history, there have been generations that fell away and forgot God, but in the time of the prophets Israel was never left without a word from the Lord. Many generations have come and gone, but there have been remarkable generations all thr...