Unselfishness or Love?

Wednesday 2/5/2014 4:01 AM

David begins Psalm 27 with bold statements.  “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?”  Later in verse 4 he spills the secret of such confidence.  “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”  David lived without fear because he sought after God.  He knew God intimately because he spent time with him every day.  He knew God’s character and had confidence that God would not abandon him even if the circumstances of his life went south.

In his book Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis writes about how over the centuries the greatest Christian virtue has morphed from love to unselfishness.  He distinguishes between the two by pointing out that unselfishness is simply self-denial and is an end in itself whereas love requires not only self-denial but also seeking the good of another person.  He then writes what seems to be a contradiction of self-denial.  “If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is in not part of the Christian faith.  Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak.  We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.  We are far too easily pleased.”

I spend much of my life worrying about drink and sex and ambition, fearing I won’t have enough money to live comfortably after I retire, wondering about what others think of me in my life as a teacher and bemoaning the aging process as I feel my body become weaker.  When I focus more and more upon my needs, my desires, and myself I lose focus on the lives of others.  I am blinded to the hurting people around me who need to experience the love of God through me.  Ironically, I spend most of my energy worrying about things that will provide no lasting joy and fulfillment while ignoring the things that will allow me to live confidently and fully before God.  Humankind is designed to live in relationship with God and in relationship with others.  Only when those relationships are healthy will we experience joy and fulfillment in our lives.

Lord, give me the desire to know you more intimately.  Give me confidence that you will provide for my needs and that you will walk with me through the changing circumstances of my life.  Then give me the grace to move from unselfishness to love so that others might be blessed by you through me.