Selfishness can be defined as a lack of consideration for others while being chiefly concerned with one's own interests or pleasures. Some people struggle with selfishness. They have conditioned themselves (or have been conditioned by others) to think only of themselves.
Selfishness is an ugly way to live one's life. There are many things which illustrate this fact, but the hymn "There Is A Sea" (number 641 in our hymnal) makes a brilliant use of the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea to show the vast difference between a life of sharing one's blessings and selfishness.
There is a sea which day by day receives the rippling rills,
And streams that spring from wells of God, or fall from cedarded hills.
But what it thus receives it gives with glad unsparing hand:
A stream more wide, with deeper tide, flows on to lower land.
There is a sea which day by day receives a fuller tide;
But all its store it keeps, nor gives to shore nor sea beside;
It's Jordan stream, now turned to brine, lies heavy as molten lead;
Its dreadful name doth e'er proclaim that sea is waste and dead.
Which shall it be for you and me, who God's good gifts obtain?
Shall we accept for self alone, or take to give again?
For He who once was rich indeed laid all His glory down;
That by His grace, our ransomed race should share His wealth and crown.
The Sea of Galilee receives water from a number of sources, but the primary source is the Jordan River. There are over 22 different species of fish found in abundance in this body of water, and it is surrounded by fertile soil that produces crops of wheat, barley, figs, grapes, and vegetables.
As the song mentions, the Sea of Galilee does not keep its water, but feeds the Jordan River as it continues to flow 65 miles and empties into the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea is an intensely saline and lifeless body of water due, primarily, because it had no outlet. "The salt sea would be fresh or only mildly saline had it an outlet: but the landlocked basin in a hot and arid climate forms a superb evaporating pan" (Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 2, p. 51). The water in this sea evaporates at about the same rate it flows into it from the Jordan, but the mineral content remains, resulting in brackish water that cannot support life.
The hymnwriter (Lula Klingman Zahn) has made a beautiful use of these sister seas to teach us a lesson on the importance of giving.
The person who is willing to receive God's blessings with a mind to pass them along to "lower lands" is a blessing to others. The person who selfishly clings to everything is a burden to his fellowman, but he is actually doing the greatest harm to himself. The Rich Man was unwilling to share a crumb of his food with Lazarus. This man died and found himself in eternal torment (Luke 16:19-31).
Selfishness is contrary to the teachings of Christ. "And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (Acts 20:35). James taught, "If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:15-17). John asked, "But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:17-18).
Selfishness is also contrary to the example of Christ. Jesus did not have to leave the glory of Heaven. He chose to do so because we needed the sacrifice that only He could make. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:5-8).
We are to give of our blessings to help others, but we must also give of ourselves. As his life was drawing to a close, Paul said of his service, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand" (2 Tim. 4:6). He was poured out; there was nothing left. There is a saying in sports that goes, "He left it all on the field." This means the player exhausted every possible effort to win. He gave it all. The apostle Paul "left it all on the field." He was not selfish with the blessings he received from God. He gave them all to save lost souls.
"Which shall it be for you and me?" Will we selfishly hoard all our blessings, or will we share them and thus become a blessing to others? A life of selfishness is a burden to others and an offense to God. It is the lonely path of life that leads to eternal torment. Such a life is not worth living.