Selfishness

Psalm 50:19–22 (KJV 1900)

¹⁹  Thou givest thy mouth to evil,

And thy tongue frameth deceit.

²⁰  Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;

Thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.

²¹  These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;

Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself:

But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

²²  Now consider this, ye that forget God,

Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.  

This past Sunday, we finished up our study on the 50th Psalm. In it, we have seen two attitudes that can be prevalent within the Christian: Selfishness and Thankfulness. Verse 19 & 20 show us that we choose (givest) how we use our words, and that we can build (frameth) our conversations either for selfish reasons, or with a thankful spirit.

Now, verses 21-22 speak more towards the attitude. As I thought about the attitude of the selfish, I came across three forms of selfishness:

1. ALL FOR ME - NONE FOR YOU

This is the first, and most common form of selfishness. The person who suffers from this form of selfishness that wants everything for themselves, with no one else getting any. There is no desire to share your blessings with others around you, and no regard to the wellbeing of others.

2. SAME FOR ME - SAME FOR YOU

This is a more subtle attitude of selfishness that many people never realize exists, or that they suffer from it. Many people don't mind others receiving a blessing, or a portion. Just make sure they get the same amount as you. This is the person who constantly cries, "That's not fair!" Truth be told, 99.9% (unscientific data) of those who claim its not fair have no real clue on what fairness really is.

3. NONE FOR ME - NONE FOR YOU

This may be the most damaging of all the forms of selfishness. The greed and selfishness permeates this person in such a manner, that if they can't have something, they want to make sure no one else can, either. They will go as far as to destroy something that they used to have just so those that come along after them cannot enjoy it or have it. 

As born-agian believers, our attitude ought always to be an attitude of thankfulness. Those who are thankful cannot be selfish at the same time.  

Do you see selfishness as a problem today in society? How about the church? Discuss.