Our Selfish Society

My name is Erin Harkey and I am currently a student at Lancaster Bible College, a Christian, and a future educator. I grew up in a Christian home and spent a lot of my time as a child involved in music and sports. I am also currently a Senior and I am enjoying my last Bible class at LBC called “Christian Perspectives”. In this class we have been diving into the topics of sex and money by reading a book called “Sex and Money” by Paul Tripp. Even though I am just a few chapters into this book I have found it to have very accurate evaluations of the culture we live in today, and how our culture compares to God’s original plan for these two topics.
When I think about our culture when it comes to sex and money, I think of the word “selfish” or “self-absorbed”. The most important thing to everyone is themselves. In relationships, it’s all about what you can get from the other person, or what you can use them for, rather than actually having a genuine care and selfless love for the other person. Something that I think our culture is really lacking in is sacrifice. Paul Tripp says “Your life is not about you, it’s about Him… God is the creator and owner of all things.” Our culture is so immersed in ourselves, and so quick to take from others. In reality, nothing here on earth is rightfully ours; its God’s. He created us and has given us everything that we have. He created sex and money to be used for his glorification, not ours.
Why is it so easy to have this “selfish” mentality when it comes to relationships? How do we train our hearts into a selfless mentality?
The article above addresses that when you are selfless, you begin to view yourself and your needs as less important than your partners, and ultimately get left in the dust because of it. Even though this article is fixating on the ‘selfless’ person in the relationship, I think they are leaving out a very important other half of the equation. The main reason why a selfless partner’s needs would be left in the dust is due to a selfish partner who shows no care for the other person in their relationship. The word “selfless” is defined in this article as “having little or no concern for oneself”. I don’t agree with this definition. Being selfless doesn’t mean you just abandon all of your wants and needs and live by someone else’s decisions. In order to be selfless you have to be able to see past yourself and see into others needs. You have to be able to make sacrifices, and care for another person.
When I think about selfless love the best example comes from Jesus Christ. He selflessly loved us, so much that He was tortured and killed on a cross for our sins. The sins of a selfish people who put Him on that cross. Jesus loved us, and sacrificed for us. We cannot expect to have selfless love without sacrifice.
As a society, we need to stop expecting love and sacrifice from others if we are unwilling to give it as well. We need to stop seeking others to fulfill our wants and needs and seek Christ to ultimately fulfill and satisfy our needy hearts. If you want to learn more about how selfishness effects relationships, or about how God intends selflessness to realign our relationships, please visit these links.