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SELFISHNESS

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

Contents

I. Introduction

II. Thoughts About Selfishness

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I. INTRODUCTION

DEFINITIONS

1. Selfishness is the personality quality in which one thinks and acts to benefit oneself in disregard of or at the expense of the well-being of others.

2. An excessive concern with oneself rather than thinking or doing what is best for everyone or what is best for others in a situation.

3. Concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself.

AN ARTICLE IN ITS EARLY STAGES

Selfishness is a large topic. This article is not complete or perfectly organized at this time. The following are some thoughts and comments.

II. THOUGHTS ABOUT SELFISHNESS

VIOLATING THE GOLDEN RULE

The Golden Rule is one of the basic principles in the Bible and is found there in both the Old and the New Testaments. An aspect of it is that since no one would like others to be selfish with them, one should not be selfish with others.

IS THERE A TIME TO BE SELFISH?

There are several instances. First, in order to survive, one must care for oneself such as taking the time to eat and to rest and sleep. Some would say this is selfish. However, it is necessary for life and therefore it is not selfish to care for oneself.

One can say that babies are selfish. They just want food and warmth and love and clean diapers. However, this is necessary for their survival and growth.

SELFISHNESS AND THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Following the development program requires even more concern with yourself. One needs to take time to shop for food, prepare the food, take the supplements and do the procedures. Some would say this is all selfish.

When I would take the time to do the pulling down exercise while visiting my parents, my mother would comment that this was very selfish. I tried to explain that it made me a healthier and better person and that this benefitted everyone around me.

Doing the exercise daily helps keep me in a calm and loving frame of mind and this is anything but selfish. Also, as one does the pulling down procedure and the entire development program, one begins to radiate a much healthier and more loving energy to others.

SELFISHNESS VERSUS THE LIFE OF SERVICE

Selfishness means taking more than one gives. The life of service is about giving and one will receive, in return. For details, read The Life Of Service.

ENLIGHTENED SELFISHNESS

I like to say that the reason I help others is a selfish reason: I want to live on a healthier planet with healthier people because it is safer and more enjoyable. Perhaps that is selfish to say. This motivates me to help others with nutrition education. I call this enlightened selfishness.

GRACE AND SELFISHNESS

In the tapes that are the source material for the Real Self book, someone asks Jesus what motivates him to help the people of the earth. He answers that he is grateful for the grace that has changed his mind. He also say that what motivates him must come to motivate you.

SELFISHNESS AND THE LOVE OF GOD

The same material mentioned above also says that in truth, we are the expression of the love of the Creator in the world of form. In other words, the basic truth of life is that God or the Creator loves us. The correct way to live based upon this truth is to spread this love around and love others.

NOTE: Loving others does not mean to have sex with people. It means to radiate to others the same loving energy that created our bodies and everything in this world.

SELFISHNESS AND THE 7 SYSTEM

In terms of the 7 system, selfishness is an excessive focus on the lower energy centers of the body. The first three centers focus on 1) survival, 2) sex and 3) power and control. Many people are too focused in these areas to the exclusion of the higher energy centers.

The higher energy centers are less selfish. The higher energy centers are 4) give and take and friendships with others, 5) creative expression and partnerships, 6) intellectual understanding and wisdom, and 7) connecting with God or the divine or Source.

IS KILLING BUGS ON YOUR SKIN SELFISH?

There is no simple answer to this question. One could say killing a bug is selfish because one acts in disregard for the welfare of the bug. One could just brush off the bug without harming it. In many instances, this is the best answer.

However, one could also say that the bug does not belong on one’s skin and may transmit diseases. It might also continue to distract you while you drive your car and could cause an accident. Killing the bug therefore might be needed for your survival and even the survival of others.

SELFISHNESS IN THE BIBLE

The following is from the website: https://biblereasons.com/selfishness/:

There are many Bible verses that explain how selfishness is something that we should avoid. Selfishness entails having a high sense of self: complete and utter pride. It is the opposite of humility and selflessness.

Selfishness is the opposite of humility. Selfishness is worshipping self rather than God. It is a sign of someone who is unregenerate. Throughout Scripture, selfishness is indicative of someone who is living apart from God’s law.

1. Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

2. 1 Corinthians 10:24 “We should stop looking out for our own interests and instead focus on the people living and breathing around us.”

3. 1 Corinthians 9:22 “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that by all possible means I might save some.”

4. Philippians 2:20-21 “I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. 21 All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ.”

5. 1 Corinthians 10:33 “I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.”

6. Proverbs 18:1 “Whoever pulls away from others to focus solely on his own desires disregards any sense of sound judgment.”

7. Romans 8:5 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”

8. 2 Timothy 3:1-2 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy.”

9. Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

10. Philippians 1:17 “The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.”

11. Matthew 23:25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!”

There is a wisdom in regards to a sense of self that needs to be separated from selfishness. Being wise about your own safety and health are not selfish. That is treating the temple of our body respectfully out of worship for our Creator God. The two are entirely different at a heart level.

12. Romans 2:8-9 “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

13. James 3:16 “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”

14. Proverbs 16:32 “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”

15. James 3:14-15 “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.”

16. Jeremiah 45:5 “Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don’t do it! I will bring great disaster upon all these people; but I will give you your life as a reward wherever you go. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

17. Matthew 23:25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.”

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