Mature Selfishness

Lord, you will grant us peace; all we have accomplished is really from you.

Isaiah 26:12 (NLT)

As a parent, or an older sibling, you may have perhaps noticed that little kids don’t like to share – especially in that two to five-year-old range. It doesn’t really matter what the item is, if they are interested in it (or sometimes even if they aren’t), they don’t want others to have it. I remember breaking up many a fight between our two kids. Often times I would literally find myself saying stuff like, “It’s OK if he gets a straw, too!” or “She is allowed to pet the dog.” I spent a lot of time in the kid’s early years literally saying the phrase, “You have to share.”

The reality is that, though we may grow out of our material selfishness with some things, we continue to selfishly hoard others. Our selfishness just morphs into a more mature selfishness as we age. We become selfish of the things we earned.

The major issue with this reality is that this selfishness often extends into our relationship with God. And, this selfishness generally revolves around two things: 1) Time; and 2) money.

We get so busy in life trying to do things, make people happy, earn a promotion, or even just being lazy, that we neglect spending time with God or His community of believers, the church. We choose to not serve in the church because we’re exhausted from the things we do during the week. So, we neglect what God really wants us to do.

Additionally, we are selfish with our finances. Only around fifty percent of Protestants pay tithe (which is 10% of our earnings), even though the Bible clearly states that we should. Even worse is that a small fraction gives any type of offering (around four percent) to fund local ministry. In other words, we’re busy paying for stuff we desire rather than giving back to God.

As our verse today states, “Lord, you will grant us peace; all we have accomplished is really from you.” Did you catch that? Everything we have accomplished is from God. He owns it. That promotion at work? God. That money in the bank account or wallet? It’s God’s. The time you have each day? God gave you life today. In short, we owe everything to God.

So, today, thank God for the things, and opportunities, He has given to you. And, here comes the hard part, don’t let it just be lip service. Follow it up with your actions.

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