Don’t Be Selfish
Sandi Querin – October 1, 2006
Revival Center – Clovis
(Notes taken by Mary Linda Kleinman during the sermon.)

Phil. 2: 1-4  Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ?  Any comfort from His Love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit?  Are your hearts tender and compassionate?  Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.  Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others.  Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

An element that sneaks in our lives everyday is selfishness. 

• When you become selfish, you introduce pride in your heart.
• If you are willing to take on someone else’s burden, you are taking on God’s.  God’s burden is that everyone would be saved. 
• Just living your life in an unselfish manner will help people realize that something else is motivating you. 
• We need to have an abundant mentality.

Story about a lady:

• Everything she did was for her. 
• She never went the extra mile. 
• When people came to her house, there was never enough food and she always complained.  She was so withdrawn and consumed with her own desires that if she talked about Jesus, no one would believe her. 
• There was no endearment toward her at her funeral because she never preferred anybody else above herself. 

Jesus was selfless.

Story of Gideon:

Judges 6:20-21  The angel of God said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock and pour the broth over it. And Gideon did as he was told.  Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

The Israelites were greatly impoverished but even for a moment Gideon was selfless.  It could very well have been the last piece of meal Gideon had.  He poured it out on the ground as a sacrifice.

• Be pleasant even when you don’t want to.
• Many sins that plague the earth are because of selfishness.
• Why are you mean spirited?
• Quit being selfish.
• Remind yourself to be nice.
• Prefer someone else over yourself.  When God has “got you” everything will be all right.
• Find out how you can make someone else look good.

Story of Heaven and Hell:

There were two rooms.  In one of them, there was a large pot of stew in the middle of the room.  People were gathered around it with long spoons strapped to their hands.  Everyone was dipping the spoons in the pot but couldn’t put the food in their mouths because the spoons were too long.  That was hell on earth:  selfishness.

In the next room, there was another pot of stew, but the attitude of the people was different.  They were laughing and loving each other.  They figured out that it only required one skill: unselfishness.  They were feeding each other.