Our culture elevates self-esteem and self-worth. But this results in anxiety and insecurity as it leaves us needing constant validation. Instead, Tim Keller points us to 1 Corinthians 4 to propose that true peace is actually found by shifting the focus away from ourselves, freeing us from the tyranny of self-concern. By understanding and embracing the gospel message, we are released from obsessing over our own successes, failures, and what others, or even what we ourselves, think of us.
Selfishness
Fights, Unfaithfulness, and Future Grace (James 4:1-10)
Fights, Unfaithfulness, and Future Grace (James 4:1-10)
South City Church
November 6, 2016
See all sermons from this series on James.
Love is Not Selfish
When you first read the words, “Love is not selfish” you may have immediately thought of 1 Corinthians 13, frequently called “the love chapter.” However, these words actually never appear there. Yet, I still believe this statement is very true. Even from Paul’s words one can see this principle: “Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant” (v.4) and “It does not insist on its own way” (v.5). Let us take a brief look at what I believe is a vital characteristic of true love.
Our culture has taken the word love and distorted it completely. I’m not taking just about the fact that it has made love synonymous with physical romance, but the fact that it has subtly made love into something selfish. What do I mean by this? Love has come to mean “strongly appreciating someone for loving you as much as you do.” We only “love” those who please us. We only “love” the actions and attributes of another that benefit us. We “love” them because we like being loved.
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Kirk E. Miller 