Turning From Selfishness
No one wants to think that they are selfish. Selfish people are self-centered, greedy, self-interested, self-focused, and stingy. On the other hand a selfless person is generous and charitable, thinking of others first.
Truthfully, every person fights against being selfish. We can be selfish because the fleshly nature of man is to be self-centered, thinking about ourselves and not other people. And when we fail to think of others, we won’t want to give to others. Selfishness motivates us to think about how we’ve been hurt, the things we never got that we believe we deserved, and the times we were overlooked. What a miserable way to live!
Being selfish makes us unhappy, mean, miserable, irritable, and hard to get along with. You can never please a self-centered person; no matter what you do, they want more. Deep down, selfish people are not content or happy with themselves or their lives. This is because true joy comes from giving, not getting.
So, what can a selfish, self-centered person do about it? First, they must come to an end of themselves. What I mean is that they have to get really tired of being who they are. They have to recognize their selfishness for what it is and cry out to God to change them. Discovering negative things about ourselves can be really painful, but it has to happen if we are to move on to what God has for us. Once a person has come to the point that they want to change and be more selfless, they will have to get in the Word and align their thoughts and actions with the Scriptures. Being in the Word helps us change our way of thinking, and we can more easily get ourselves off of minds. Next, their actions must line up with the Bible and they must consciously try to give more than they take.
We can easily locate someone by how they talk. If they talk about themselves all the time or about their problems a lot, there is an issue with selfishness going on. They need to focus on God and others by changing their thoughts and their words. We all need to do what Jesus said and deny ourselves. That means to lose sight of ourselves and our interests. When we do, we become more like Christ and we receive more joy and satisfaction than we ever thought possible.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also]. For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting]. Matthew 16:24-25 (Amplified Bible Classic Edition, AMPC)
