We live in a world where selfish ambition often takes precedence over anything else in our life. Selfish ambition is the desire to put one’s own interests before another’s. This happens even in the church and amongst Christians. The reason for this is simple, we are all sinful human beings, and our sinful nature causes us to be selfish in general.  Paul says in Romans 7:20 “Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Even Paul and the disciples of Jesus who strived to spread the gospel struggled with sin and the desires of the flesh. The struggle is the same for all of us living on Earth.  Do we give into the selfish desires of the flesh or do we let the holy spirit guide us?

Paul says in Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves”. This is almost impossible to do in the world. How often do we value others above ourselves? On any given day our thoughts are mostly filled with what we want to do for our own interests. So how do we change our thinking patterns to get out of selfish thinking to selfless thoughts? Only by submitting to Jesus Christ.

Psalm 119:36  says “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.“. The psalmist here is asking God to turn their heart towards the teachings of God and not to their own selfish desires. This is the attitude that we all need to strive for as Christians. So how does one become selfless and start thinking about others? When Jesus was asked about what was the greatest commandment he replied in Matthew 22:37-40, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” The amazing thing about this verse is that it doesn’t mention anything about the self.  It pretty much says to love your God and to love your neighbor.