Habits of a Good Christian Series - Pt. 1: Selflessness

Welcome to our new series! Over the next month or so, we will be writing this series about the habits of a good Christian. As many of you already know, Christians have become this huge stereotype. Many people outside the Christian community have had bad experiences with "Christians" who spread judgement rather than love. This behavior drives people away from Christianity, which is the exact opposite of what God wants. This problem was the motivation for creating Faith For Girls By Girls. We want to spread the message that God loves all of us at our best and worst, and we want people to see Christians as how God intended us to be. So for this article, we will be talking about the good habit of being selfless, not selfish.

○ Philippians 2:4 says, "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

○ Luke 6:35 says, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you        will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil."

○ Romans 2:8 says, "But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and        fury."

○ Psalm 119:36 says, "Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain."

○ 1 Corinthians 10:24 says, "Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor."

○ James 3:16 says, "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice."

○ Philippians 2:3 says, "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."

It's so important to be selfless because when we're selfless, not only do we help others, but it's actually better for us as well. When we are constantly looking out for only ourselves, and all we do is fuel our greed, we will never be content with what we have. CCV pastor, Ashley Wooldridge, has talked about how we as humans constantly ambush ourselves out of greed. We will purposefully try to find something wrong with what we have so that we can get an upgrade. We do this because we are so obsessed with having the newest and most expensive thing that we completely dismiss how we're using our time and money. When we think of others before ourselves, we recognize that there are better things that we could be doing with what we have. It is also much more fulfilling to know that you have used your blessings to help others rather than to just buy the newest and "greatest" thing.

It's simple! Selfishness is seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others. Self esteem is healthy, it's confidence in one's own worth or abilities; self-respect. You can love yourself without being selfish, and having self esteem and being selfless are some of the best qualities you can have.