1 Corinthians 13 is a beautiful passage of God-breathed Scripture that calls us to walk in the “more excellent way” of love. One of the best ways to summarize this sort of love is selflessness.
If we look at it in reverse, we quickly discover that it doesn’t have the same beautiful ring to it.
If I speak the language of selfishness, I am speaking the language of this world and of rebellious angels; there are plenty of noisy gongs and clanging cymbals that speak this language. And if I had prophetic powers, and understood all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I had all faith, so as to remove mountains, but I live from a heart of selfishness, I am nothing. If I say that I would give away all that I have, and I would deliver up my body to be burned, but am inwardly self-centered, I gain nothing.
Selfishness is impatient and unkind;
___ a self-centered heart is full of envy and boasting;
___ self-centeredness reveals itself in arrogance and rudeness.
Selfishness insists on its own way;
___ a self-centered mind will lead me to be irritable and resentful;
___ self-centeredness has no qualms about celebrating sin or mocking what is true.
Selfishness is whiny and thin-skinned;
___ a self-centered spirit provokes me to be thoroughly skeptical, always pessimistic,
___ and consistently willing to give up, give in, and walk away from what matters most.
Selfishness will be brought to a shameful, disgraceful end…
For now, pettiness, bitterness, and hatred abide in this world; but the temporary root of all of this rotten fruit is selfishness. (1 Worldliness 13)
This sermon was delivered on August 31, 2014.
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