I know that if I were to stand in front of a group of Christians and tell them there was only one sin in the world to conquer, most of them would raise an eyebrow and then list off a multitude of sins that each and every human has or will commit.  That’s true, there are thousands of sins that we can commit as humans that separate us from our Creator God and bring us to the cross in need of salvation. But I believe if we trace the origins of any particular sin we commit each one would bring us to a single source; SELF.
The love of self is the biggest contribution to sin in our lives. Not just the ‘big sins’ that we see in the 10 Commandments but also the ‘little sins’ that we commit each day that we might not even be aware of.
For example, the guy that cuts us off in traffic and we lay into the horn. Not the “hey buddy lookout I’m back here†honk but the; “I wish this horn had seven levels of anger†honk followed up with the stink eye as you pass.
Or the phrase that I’ve heard said by an individual that was married when a beautiful person of the opposite sex walked by, “I can look I just can’t touch.†Really, would you have said that if your spouse was in the room?
Or the “not so pleasant†comment about the neighbor that just got a new and very expensive car and how you would never be seen in something so opulent. But it was the tone of the comment, that made the comment seem envious.
Each of these examples or something like them might be something that we commit on any given day. They may be so small that we don’t even realize we have committed a sin, but they are all driven from that same point of self centeredness. The guy in traffic should have seen me because all eyes should be on me. As long as I don’t cross that line it is okay for me to think whatever I want, about whomever I want, whenever I want. Or I am a much better person than my neighbor – why should they be allowed to have something nicer than me?
Jesus is the mark of excellence. His life on earth was perfect, without sin. Jesus understood that selflessness is what God requires from us, and Jesus followed through fully without wavering from his call. With each miracle that Jesus performed he did so selflessly having compassion for the people that the miracle was performed for but even more important he performed the acts selflessly not in order to gain fame and popularity for himself, but to display God’s magnificent glory.
If we are to become like Jesus, we have to overcome our desire to satisfy ourselves. We have to be willing to give ourselves away at all costs so that we can also display the greatness of God’s glory in our lives.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3: 16
Now that was a selfless act!