Slavic Christian: how to live a selfless life

Dear Slavic Christian, 

How often do the following govern your actions, thoughts, and feelings?

Self-sufficiency, self-confidence, self-love, self-admiration, self-pity, self-righteousness. 

As long as you’re driven by “self,” you are god.

It won’t be until you get off the throne that He can take His rightful place in your life.

Let this sink in…

Do you even need God?

I’m currently reading Tozer's “The Pursuit of God,” which has brought attention to many areas of my spiritual walk that I wasn’t aware of, including this one. 

In the Western world, we have been taught to put “self” above anyone else, including our spouse, children, peers, and Christ. 

A song by FLAME the rapper comes to mind that perfectly describes this subject. It’s called " Recaptured. " 

It goes, “We live for our families, for our money and cars

We live for our happiness, cause our pleasure is lord

But ain't we seen yet, that that just doesn't work

Living for self can only lead to dozens of hurts

Please hear my heart, like a stethoscope

We're taking steps towards death, but looking for hope

Because we were captured by sin

We were seized, now we need to be captured again

That's why we need to pick them Scriptures up

Start praying and fasting, and ask the Father to forgive us of

Forgive us for laziness, forgive us Lord for our pride

Forgive us for worldliness, forgive us, cleanse us inside

Cleanse us Lord from telling lies, cleanse us from our selfishness

Cleanse us from our fear of man, we need more than help from this

We confess our lack of love, We confess selfish ambition

We confess to You our lust, oh Lord bring us to repentance.”

Why am I talking about this as a therapist?

I believe that there has been plenty of damage done when individuals I’ve encountered, including myself, focused on themselves instead of recognizing how their behavior affected others and vice versa. Many of the clients I serve hurt because someone put their pleasure ahead of another's safety and dignity which led to decades and generations of trauma and hurt. 

If we lived for others instead, this would not be the case. 

There wouldn’t be sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, envy, greed, strife, infidelity, murder, substance abuse, etc.  

My clients wouldn’t struggle with building healthy and safe relationships with their parents, friends, romantic interests, themselves, and God. 

But since “self” is at the root of the pain on Earth this is the case. It will also be the case until God returns. 

I’m a faith-based therapist who believes that the reason behind all this pain and selfishness is our underlying sin that is fueled by “self.” Satan was grounded in pride, and Eve followed, and now we suffer with the same things they did, a life apart from Christ. 

Thankfully, we are not alone. He gave up His life to reconcile us to Him so that we may live for Him and have an abundant, selfless life by loving Him and others. 

The question is, will you?