Why I am so selfish?

Man doth usurp all space,

Stares thee, in rock, bush, river, in the face.

Never yet thine eyes behold a tree ;

'Tis no sea thou seést in the sea,

'Tis but a disguised humanity.

To avoid thy fellow, vain thy plan ;

All that interests a man, is man.

Henry Sutton.

I am totally into me. I see myself in everything. I barely take the time to rip myself away from myself. Even when I serve I tend to evaluate the serving from the perspective of how it changed me, not so much how it changed another. Yet even with all of this I also feel a sense of joy.

The joy comes from knowing I won’t always be a self centered creature. Someday Jesus will come back and put away my selfishness. He will give me a new way to see myself and the world. I will be able to understand the sea for its true beauty. I will be able to enjoy the rock, bush, and river for what it truly is. The gospel empowers us to be free from ourselves, and instead rejoice in deep joy.

How can I experience some this today:

1. Recognize your selfishness. I am not ever in this lifetime going to remove every aspect of my selfish nature. I will struggle with selfishness, but recognition of this selfishness draws me to the joy of a future rescuer.

2. Recognize Jesus lack of selfishness. I know of the life of the one who was selfless. I know Jesus who risked all so I could become all of who I was meant to be. He did this not for any gain of his own, but out of a pure selfless love.

3. Strive after Jesus. Focus on the effort not the destination. Allow yourself to be refined by the life of Christ. Let the refinement take shape today, let him who began a good work in you complete it.