Self Serving = Socially Acceptable Suicide BY: KB 3.4.15

James 3:14-16 ESV      But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

Philippians 2:3-4 ESV      Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Proverbs 18:1 ESV      Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.

James 2:14-17 ESV      What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Self-centeredness is defined as “excessive concern with one’s own interests and well-being; self-love or egotism.” The Bible tells us “people who are self-centered aren’t able to please God” (Romans 8:8). Self-centeredness is a sin because it leads to being devoted to self-gratification and overlooking other people’s needs (Romans 2:8;James 3:16). Self-centeredness and self-love are totally adverse to the teachings of Scripture (1 Corinthians 13:4–7).

“When  we're self-centered, the sinful passions aroused through the law are at work in all the parts of our body, so that we bear fruit for death” (Romans 7:5). The NIV translates “self-centered” as “in the realm of the flesh.” By being self-centered or giving in to our sinful, fleshly natures, we are bearing fruit that results in death. It is ironic that putting oneself first leads to our destruction (Luke 17:33).

Jesus goes to the very core of the sin of self-centeredness with this clear declaration: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). To deny oneself means letting go the material things used to gratify and define self. To deny oneself is to let go of selfish desires and earthly security and focus instead on the interests of God (Matthew 6:33). The mindset of “the one with the most toys wins!” is seen for the fallacy it is. Denying oneself turns us from self-centeredness to God-centeredness. Self is no longer in charge; God is. Christ rules our hearts.