Roots of Selfishness

The founders of AA were not wrong when they described the selfishness problem this way: “Selfishness -- self-centeredness!  That, we think, is the root of our troubles.  Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate.  Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.  Above everything, we must be rid of this selfishness.  We must, or it kills us!”  (Big Book pages 62-63)

The Bible instructs us:  Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others.  Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Philippians 2:3-4

Selfish people have difficulty seeing life from anyone else's point of view.  They rarely concern themselves with what is best for others.  They want what they want when they want it and how that might impact someone else is not a high priority for them.

When we notice selfishness in ourselves (not an easy thing I might add – it’s usually someone else who has to point this out to us)  Even though we might say we want change, that self-centered mindset doesn't automatically change by itself.  We might make a slight adjustment in one area but unless we intentionally learn and put into ongoing practice an unselfish way of living, we will simply transfer our current selfish mindset to a new area of self-interest.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, we are driven in so many ways by our own self centeredness.  Forgive us for our self-focused way of living. 

Help us to follow the example of Jesus who gave up everything to make a way for us through His death on the cross. 

Help us God, to live in the security of your care and unfailing love for us.  Teach us how to love and care for others and keep us from evil that we may not cause harm to anyone.  Amen