C.S. Lewis once stated, “Selfishness has never been admired.”
I think we can all agree with that. We all know someone who has been selfish—the employee at work who jams the copier but never fixes it; the personal assistant who puts personal phone calls before anything else; the boss who never listens to other people’s ideas.
We abhor selfishness when we see it in other people. It sticks out like a sore thumb. We wish people would take time to think of others, but we often overlook selfishness when it manifests in us. It’s time that we, as believers, dragged selfishness out of the
spiritual closet and admit we have a problem.
Selfishness=Problem
Selfishness isn’t pretty. It causes us to focus on our own needs instead of what others need. It’s a problem we all have to address, but the remedy should be pretty clear: you must focus on what others need and not on yourself.
As simple as that may sound, it’s amazing how much our flesh bucks against helping other people. In many ways, we are our own biggest enemies, not Satan. When I say “we,” I’m referring to our selfish natures, fleshly tendencies, self-concern, self-pity, and all that orients our attention away from others toward our own needs.
Selfishness is the root of many of the challenges we face. You wouldn’t be afraid if you weren’t focused on self. You’d give money away freely if you weren’t concerned for your own needs. Oppression, depression, and the darkness many people deal with on a regular basis wouldn’t exist without an overarching concern for self.
If you didn’t have a tendency to please yourself, Satan would have nothing to use against you!
What’s Your Motive?
A good way to check to see whether or not you’re acting selfishly is to check your motive. If what you desire and what you believe has no end purpose other than doing something for you, you’re walking the path of selfishness.
Selfish people are unhappy. The most unfulfilled, spiteful, bitter people I know are self-concerned people. We all know those people are not very fun to work with in the office! The greatest liberty we can begin experiencing in Christ is to be conformed to His image when He came to serve mankind. You have to start thinking about somebody besides yourself. Orient your life outward and you’ll experience a degree of liberty you never will otherwise have.
I could preach a whole message here, but I want to point out one thing that I believe will help you be more selfless in the work arena.
Money Isn’t the Answer
One temptation you will face in your quest to be less selfish is the tendency to strive after the things the world has to offer. If your greatest motivation in life is to acquire things that will bless you, you’re serving the wrong God. If your primary motive in working is to climb the corporate ladder and gain wealth, you’re serving the wrong God. That selfishness will destroy your quality of life.
The unhappiest people in this world are the ones who are chasing the dollar, thinking that will solve their problems. That’s part of my testimony. I thought money would solve all my problems. Fortunately, the Lord enabled me to see at a reasonably young age the inability of the dollar or anything that the dollar will acquire to generate fulfillment and happiness. Money has no capacity to do that.
Now it would be incorrect to assume this means God isn’t interested in you being successful. He is. He wants you to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13). He wants you to be blessed exceeding abundantly more than you can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). He wants you to see your life and the things in this world as a resource to Him to get the Gospel preached and to touch other people’s lives. This is the Christian message.
Don’t chase the dollar or pursue the glamour, glory, and power that seem to be offered by making it in the world. See your money as a resource for God to use. It’s one of the ways you can be more selfless in the workplace.
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Mac and Lynne Hammond are senior pastors of Living Word in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which they started in 1980. Many outreaches and ministries have launched from Living Word since that time, including Maranatha Christian Academy, a Pre-K through grade 12 school with nearly 900 in attendance, and Living Free Recovery Services, a licensed outpatient treatment program.
Most recently, Mac and Lynne have launched a vision to plant fifty churches across the globe in the next five years. As of August 2024, nine churches have been planted in the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, and Guatemala with construction underway for seven more churches in El Salvador, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Prior to becoming a pastor, Mac was a pilot. He served in the Air Force, served two tours of duty in Southeast Asia, and was honorably discharged in 1970 with the rank of Captain. Between 1970 and 1980, Mac was involved in varying capacities in the general aviation industry, including ownership of a successful air cargo business serving the Midwestern United States. A business acquisition brought the Hammonds to Minneapolis, where they ultimately founded Living Word. Currently, Mac is the host of The Winner’s Way and The Winner’s Minute broadcasts and the author of several internationally distributed books. Mac is broadly acclaimed for his ability to apply the principles of the Bible to practical situations and the challenges of daily living.
