Self

Good Morning,

“I” is a very small word, yet it speaks loudly.

Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”

vs. 13 “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:”

vs. 14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

The passage has the word I stated five times, radiating selfishness, sinfulness, shame, and reproach.

There was a man who had such a prosperous farm he said I know what I will do. I will build bigger barns.

Luke 12:18 “And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.”

vs. 19 “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”

God called the man a fool because he thought so much of himself and thought so little of God.

vs. 20 “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

vs. 21 “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Prosperity was not the trouble but the total focus on self.  There was no thought for others and no turning to God for direction and wisdom about future decisions — just a lot of "I."


America has long been the most giving nation on earth, and despite the wealth of the North Eastern part of our nation, the poorer south maintains the award for being the most generous. Christians, especially Bible-reading Christians tend to be in the higher group when it comes to giving.  Greed is not absent from many people, but the total focus on greed, gain, personal glory, and self is found more among the wealthy, non-Christian, and liberal (politically speaking) people.  It is a documented fact that the politically liberal folks do not give nearly as much as the conservative folks.   The desire to please one’s self and seek personal position needs to be fought as much as we are able; the philosophy is simply not godly!  

In Heaven, Satan held an amazing position. He was close to God, he oversaw much, and was seemingly powerful above others, yet he couldn't accept his position and wanted what God had - the ruling position with no one over him.  From that point, the story turned bad and it will end even worse.  

When we train our children, we need to curb selfishness and help them learn to focus on others.  When someone is especially gifted, they can become proud and thoughtless of others. They will need help in forgetting themselves and seeking to elevate those around them.  

"God so loved the world He gave.” Loving cannot be separated from giving and putting first.  If we hope to train our young people to love, we must train them to forget self and to help others.  In basketball, a man is highly esteemed for a "triple double,” or for getting not only double figures in points but also in assists and rebounds.  If a ballplayer cannot help his teammates excel, he is limited and will fall short of the success he could attain.   So it is with marriage and work — others, others, others.  

May we get our own hearts away from the idea of "What I deserve" or "I was not treated fairly" or  "Life has been hard on ME,”  and pay much attention to how we can help someone else.

Pastor