We’re All Selfish, Just In Different Areas

Has anyone ever told you "Don't be selfish"? Or perhaps "Selfishness is bad"?

Or maybe you've had a different experience where someone outright called you selfish.

Not great experiences for sure.

But do any of us stop and think about it for very long? Aren't we all selfish, even the unselfish ones?

For example: if you stop looking at specific people that come to mind and instead look around at the crowd of people in your day to day lives. You see that we're all selfish, just in ways that are different from each other.

• Maybe they're selfish about which way the toilet roll goes.
• Maybe they're selfish with their time in the garage.
• Maybe they're selfish with their need to watch their shows, the game, or that streamer.
• Maybe they're selfish about only going to certain restaurants after church.

As you can see from the examples above. It's not always "you don't donate to charity" selfishness. It's not always "You didn't jump in front of the bullet to save my life" selfishness. Sometimes it shows up in tiny every day areas of life.

When you realize we're all in the same boat of being selfish it raises some internal questions. Like, is it even possible for a human being to NOT be selfish?

When you ask yourself that question enough times. You arrive at what can be an oddly good realization:

"No, it's not possible for any human being to NOT be selfish. Which means even the unselfish people I look up to ARE selfish in some ways or some areas of their life. They're just like me!"

So taking that truth and moving forward in life, how do we hang out and talk with people while navigating this shared selfish human existence?

On the one side, pointing out where people are being selfish can be a good thing. But on the other side can really mess up your connections with people. Permanently sometimes.

The answer might surprise you.

Don't do anything. Seriously.

Now that's not to say reject the nudges of the holy spirit or anything like that.

But the point is NOT to DO something. The point is to lean back with our mouths closed. Because realizing that we're all selfish should help us all have grace, have mercy, and have patience with other humans.

We're all on the journey.

Let's not expect everyone else to be as far along as we are. And let's not expect ourselves to be as far along as the people we look up to or admire either.