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Living for Self or for Others
| This seems to be the
defining choice in life. There is a record in the Bible of angels who
sought to use their power to present themselves as human to take the
“daughters of men” At an even more rudimentary level the demons that
were removed from a man asked if they could go into a heard of pigs. It
seems the desire to have sensations was particularly tempting for those
who left their “first estate”.
God is described as light and in him is no darkness at all. If one
considers light as proceeding outward from a source, providing
illumination, warmth, and life sustaining energy, one can see giving
without taking. In contrast, Satan is described in Isaiah 14 by five “I
wills” that seem to define taking.
Love is described in the bible (1Cor 13:4-7) as essentially
selflessness. The process of maturity for a Christian is abandoning the
flesh (selfishness) and walking by the Spirit in the Christ-likeness of
selfless love. It seems that angels loose the opportunity for eternal
life through the pursuit of selfishness and humans can gain eternal
life by setting aside selfishness to trust in the truth of the gospel.
Humans are all born helpless, ignorant, and selfish. We can begin to
get a picture of the selfless concern for others from marriage and
children. Many try a path of selfishness only to discover hungers that
are never satisfied, isolation, and even health concerns. Being able to
take joy and satisfaction from what can be done for others replaces
self-stimulation, pride, vanity, ambition, and gain.
Most people do not destroy themselves with selfishness. They learn to
live within social norms and are satisfied with whatever comforts they
can secure like TV, social media, and hobbies. However, the insular
life of comfort is not the means of eternal life.
Being able to recognize that which serves self is transient and even
narcotic in that it takes more intense and more frequent doses to get
the same sensations, can help one see that selfishness is a dead end if
not a destructive trap. Making an investment in others is a way to
begin to experience the God-like quality of “light”.
Being born apart from God makes one prioritize whatever he can get for
himself. Being presented with the gospel can seen foolish to those who
see what they can get as tangible and real. The gospel may only sound
reasonable to those who have seen enough truth to see the limits of the
flesh. This may be why Jesus said that all who were of the truth would
hear his voice.
Truth may be the way that the flesh and the priority of self is
transcended. Truth is the door to humility and humility is the door to
the grace of God. It would seem that God has an interest in helping
people to be rescued from the destructive path of self-seeking.
However, there are choices to be made. Ignoring truth or indulging in
self deception can allow one to enjoy the sensation of consumptive self
indulgence as well as anesthetize oneself to the discomforts of reality.
This is truly a choice between darkness and light, good and evil, and
sets the trajectory of one’s life. Most people are even unaware that
there is a choice. Our default is the nature we are born with. As one
grows in truth and can see the limits of this nature, one is able to
recognize that what God offers is a rescue from the blindness of
self-seeking. Basically the abandonment of self is the path towards
godliness. |
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