SELFISHNESS I John 3:16 “For by this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also lay down our lives for the Brethren.” If that verse is true and we DO “know love”, why are we so amazed by His love? Many people have contemplated His love and they are always left in awe. Why is that? We sing songs like AMAZING LOVE and still question “How can it be?” We write poems, stories, articles, and sermons only to be left shaking our heads in awe of Him. There’s even a new song out by Jadon Lavik asking God if His love was tied to the things we do or don’t do and he ends up saying, “I’m in awe of why you love me the way you do”. The truth of the matter is that we stand in AWE of His amazing love, because we do not practice His love, therefore it is foreign to us. We don’t allow His love to be working in us. There’s one small word that gets in the way every time. That’s SELF. Think about it… Think of a sin that does not involve putting yourself 1st. Think back to your last argument, (come on) what was the real reason for the fight? It’s the “What’s in it for me?” “I’m looking out for #1” or the “What about my needs” attitude that keeps us from loving like God loves. We tend to withdraw our love if someone doesn’t measure up to our standards. We withhold our love if someone doesn’t do what we want him or her to do (despite their motives). When it comes to God’s will if He does not answer how we think he ought to, we’re in hysterics. We hold our tongue and don’t speak the truth in love for fear of embarrassment or ridicule. We worry what others might think instead of what God thinks all because we are unfamiliar with His love. It’s the same SELFCENTERED attitude that: Causes us to snub our nose at less fortunate people Place our schedule on a higher priority than everything else, I’m more important. Selfishness is the root of lying, cheating and even murder. It’s all sin and it’s all Selfishness. I was in a big city one night and I heard a newscast where they were on the look out for a white SUV which had just ran over a 12 Year old boy on his bike and fled the scene. Selfishness.
SELFISHNESS I John 3:16 – This verse not only means literally dying (if you are called to do so), but also setting our feelings, our wants and our desires aside and putting the feelings, wants and desires of those around us first on a day to day basis. This is what He meant by: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. And Love your neighbor as yourself If we think about God and about others as often as you think about ourselves, we will know LOVE or at least catch a glimpse what His love is all about.
I John 4:914 – Read To manifest is to make clear, visible or known. We should be manifesting God’s love to those around us, but because of our lack of love; our God is viewed as impersonal, angry and unreachable. You and I know that our God is not like that, so we should never be like that. Ephesians 3:1719