“Christians Are Selfish”

Posted on by thechristiantechnerd

A lot of Christians in my church have talked to me about the same subject

People accuse them of being selfish for trying to reach Heaven.

They say that they follow God’s Will simply for their own personal benefit.

Instead of becoming defensive, let’s try to stand from the accusers’ point of view.

Doing everything in our power to go to Heaven might seem like selfish behavior to atheists.

If our primary concern is our own salvation, then we are not living out Christ’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We might become so focused on ourselves that we neglect to show love and compassion to those around us who are also in need of God’s grace.

In this sense, trying to live forever can indeed be selfish.

But is that accusation fair?

From our perspective, the desire to reach Heaven is simply a natural response to the love and grace that God has bestowed upon us.

It is not about personal gain, but about living to serve and glorify God.

In that way, following God’s Will could be considered the ultimate expression of selflessness.

So, which is it? Is trying to reach Heaven selfish or selfless?

The answer, I believe, lies in the heart behind the motivation.

If our motivation is rooted in a deep love for God and a desire to support the less fortunate, then it’s pure and right.

We are seeking to align our will with God’s Will, not because we want to gain salvation or escape punishment, but because we want to grow closer to Him.

However, if our motivation is solely to escape hell or gain entry into heaven, then it is selfish.

We are reducing God to a means to an end, using Him as a tool to achieve our own ends rather than loving Him for who He is. 

And that is not right.

That is why we have to be certain of our motivations before we try to glorify God.

Let us examine our hearts and our motives for following God’s will.

Let us seek to love God and others because of the goodness in our hearts, minds, and souls.

And let our desire to reach Heaven be rooted in that love.

What Scripture says about selflessness.

May God grant us the grace to follow Him with pure hearts and selfless motives.

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Published by thechristiantechnerd

22 year old college student! 100% Christian,! Will ALWAYS be a woman of FAITH. And my friends call me the "The Christian Tech Nerd" because I was hired by a very successful tech company in Silicon Valley, and I turned them down to be close to my family!

29 thoughts on ““Christians Are Selfish””

  2. This is something that need to be addressed, and you did it very well. How often do believers make that self diagnosis to know if they are in the faith? Too many christians playing church, thinking that they are safe without a real fellowship with the Father.
    Blessings

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  3. Thanks for sharing this. I learnt something new reading this.

    I think selfishness in the heart of believers can be totally eliminated if we learn to practice the Love we hear and preach daily.

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  4. Isn’t odd that sins, God hates the most that is written in Proverbs 6:16-19, is how people sins people do to each other. And Proverbs is written to be read by believers of God’s word, something to ponder?

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  5. It is not wrong to seek the kingdom of heaven. We are told to do this. ”Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” Mt 6:19,20. ”seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” Mt 6:33. Read the parable of Lazarus Lk 16:19-31. 

    I used to feel that my motives were selfish, then found multiple verses which encourage us to be selfish in a good way. ”I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so you and your descendants may live” Dt 30:19. ”Taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those….” Ps 34:8-17. ”Ho, everyone who thirsts…Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread?…..Come to Me. Listen so that you may live….” Is 55 

    It is not good to be selfish for carnal desires, but to be “selfish” to store treasures for yourself in heaven is very good. I personally think it is perhaps not wise to put all my chips in the hereafter. I want to see some heaven in the “here and now”, so I can know there is a hereafter. So, I seek to see God’s power here and now. I posted some very inspirational videos at the end of my recent post about Michael Coren’s book. 

    I could give you some more verses, “…forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases” Ps 103  Sounds like you need to soak in Ps 103, Is 55 etc. 

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      1. Seek the Lord and His strength Ps 105:4, Seek Me and live, Seek the Lord and live, Seek good and not evil that you may live Amos 5:4,6,14. …get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die? ….Turn, then, and live. Ez 18:31,32. I wrote a list of these verses in the back of my Bible to remind myself. I was thinking after reading your blog, even when Jesus says to take up your cross and deny yourself, He goes on to say, “those who lose their life for My sake, will find it” Mt 16:24,25.

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  6. Oh Christian Tech Nerd, I do Love you, I have followed you. Remember that Jesus promised that Heaven dwells within us forever. There is no need to search for it. we only need to recognize its presence as we recognize God’s presence within. These are Jesus’ promises. Love. Love. love.

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  7. There are a couple of ways of looking at the problem.

    The first is that the assumption behind “They say that they follow God’s Will simply for their own personal benefit.” is that we work our way to heaven. We don’t. We are recipients of God’s grace who respond with the desire to follow him and to do his will.

    Second, in Evangelical circles we get stuck with the accusation that we’re simply trying to avoid hell. There is some justification in that, but trying to avoid hell won’t get the job done.

    This is one place where Roman Catholic theology is helpful. Turning towards God to simply avoid hell in being sorry for our sins is called “attrition” and won’t get us there. Turning towards God because we love him and being sorry for our sins is called “contrition.” That will get us there and is justified by the following:

    “Then came up one of the Teachers of the Law who had heard their discussions. Knowing that Jesus had answered them wisely, he asked him this question: “What is the first of all the commandments?” “The first,” answered Jesus, “is–‘Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is the one Lord; And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.’ The second is this–‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thou dost love thyself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” “Wisely answered, Teacher!” exclaimed the Teacher of the Law. “It is true, as you say, that ‘there is one God,’ and that ‘there is no other besides him’; And to ‘love him with all one’s heart, and with all one’s understanding, and with all one’s strength,’ and to ‘love one’s neighbor as one loves oneself’ is far beyond all ‘burnt-offerings and sacrifices.'”” (Mark 12:28-33)

    It is interesting to note that in France one man stood up against the powerful Cardinal Richelieu because he told King Louis XIII that he could be saved via attrition only. That detonated a long-term controversy. It’s still a potent subject.

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  8. Indeed, we are called to do a few things, first Paul says to have a defense of your faith. The only way to do this is to know scripture and have it stored in your heart.

    Second, we are called to share the Gospel, which means “Good News” In order to do this we have to know the good news, and understand it. We are not however told to change hearts and minds. We cannot do that, only the Holy Spirit can turn a stone heart to a heart of flesh.

    Third, we are called to live a life different from that of the world. We must look different by the way we act, not in a Pius way such as the Pharisees, but in love, grace, mercy, and very importantly, selfless service. Which you pointed out.

    I said once, we cannot expect morality from an immoral people. Scripture tells us that those who deny CHRIST, have their eyes blinded by the deceiver. We are to continue to pray for enemies of the church, for before we were saved we too were once enemies of God. (Romans 5:10)

    Pray without ceasing, and just be different. Be the ambassador we are called to be. Do not love the world, but we are called to live in it, not be of it. Do not conform. Most importantly, do not compromise the word, just for society sake.

    I enjoyed reading your post. I hope and pray you are well. Keep fighting the good fight. And yes, it is important for the Christian to be slow to speak, and quick to hear. We need to sometimes stop and just listen. Build relationships. And share the love and gospel along the way.

    May God Bless You and your walk with him.

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  11. As you stated, it’s not selfish for Christians to want to escape Hell because it’s God’s will. How, as you’ve also stated, we’re not to be selfish about it either. That is, once we’ve obtained our salvation we need to help others achieve salvation to. That is telling them the truth in love, and telling them the truth is love. ✝️🕊

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  12. Do the God deniers and God haters actually believe that Christians should go to Hell too so that we’re not selfish? How absurd… But what do we expect but ridiculousness from them? No one in their right mind would want to go to Hell, except a few I suppose (e.g., Saul Alinsky). But it’s their choice, for we all have free will, and we can’t force people to accept Jesus. ✝️🕊

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  14. When we are faced with this sort of question, it gives us the chance to tell people about the Lord. Because the truth is, humans are born sinners. God knows it, and He uses our selfish fleshly desires to draw us to Him. Think about it. He gave us the law and rules to show us that we cannot obey Him and need a Savior. Our failure causes us to seek Him, when he calls us. He is the only thing we need. He knows this.
    We cannot save ourselves. Our only hope is to fall before Him and give ourselves to Him. It’s not selfish, because it’s between you and God alone. Other people are not involved. Is it selfish to take a drink of water when you are alone in the desert? No. Of course not. But, if you are with others, then you should share the water. Just like we should tell others about the great things God has done for us through Jesus Christ. We are not saved by works. But by His Grace. It’s not selfish to know Him. It’s selfish to not share Him.

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  15. Also, selfishness isn’t necessarily bad. We are told in scripture to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This implies that we are indeed to love ourselves, which is in fact self-focused (selfish). God too demonstrates this kind of selfishness. Romans 11:36a says, “For from him and through him and FOR HIM are all things” (emphasis added). Other verses also come to mind directing us to seek blessings for ourselves (1 Cor 7:21, Deut 30:19, etc.) but the bottom line is that there isn’t anything wrong with trying to obtain good for yourself. The problem with selfishness is when we pick our own good over that of someone else. Wanting to go to heaven may be self-focused (selfish), but if anything this is something that also blesses God and others who love us, so it isn’t a problematic, me-over-you type of selfishness.

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  16. This post really resonates with me. I, too, have often felt disgruntled by the paradox of what appears to be, according to me, selfishness in Christians. I have felt a sort of, overwhelming disdain for what appears to be, hypocrisy. Do we love Christ if we are just trying REALLY hard to get to Heaven so we don’t die? Doesn’t that just sound like a kind of abusive relationship wherein I am just USING God to get to Heaven? Anyone who understands what a narcissistic relationship is will know that this example – kind of sounds like that! Yikes!

    I think of it this way because it makes sense to me.

    When you are in a genuine relationship with someone, do you get everything for free from them, never have to work, never have to suffer, never have to show them love, never have to get to know them, and then they just GIVE you EVERYTHING.

    Is that a genuine relationship? No.

    When you are in a relationship with someone, it is a mutuality, but you also understand, deeply, it’s not all about you. In order to satisfy the happiness of the other person, you invest in them, take time to truly get to know them. I remember a relationship guidance counselor I heard online once say something along the lines of, “You are in a relationship to make the other person’s life easier. Not to make your own easier. When you are in a genuine, mutual, relationship, it’s not just about you, and it’s not just about the other person either.”

    How can that be understood as a genuine relationship with Christ?

    1. Are we getting to Heaven for free with no troubles? No.
    2. Do we need to make sacrifices? Yes.
    3. Should we get to know Jesus and invest time in Him and His Word? Yes.
    4. Will our relationship sometimes feel weak or disconnected? Maybe. But we can make a choice to not give up on commitments.
    5. Does God ask for something in return? Yes.
    6. Are we sometimes going to mess up in our relationship and apologize? Yes.
    7. Do we need to make a verbal commitment to God and accept Him and ourselves? Yes.

    The fact is, yes, we are going to Heaven. We can accept that and not feel guilty if our relationship with Him is real and we aren’t “using Him” like someone would in a narcissistic relationship. As someone in a relationship with us, He wants to give it to us. We don’t need to feel guilty about wanting that.

    But we should NOT just be taking in this relationship. We need to give BACK in the relationship. Give back to Jesus. Cast your crowns at His feet and praise His name because He has given you a precious gift that no one, not one person, no entity or devil or this world, could ever, EVER give you – and that is the eternal life.

    Get it? He gives to you. You give to Him. It is a healthy relationship wherein both parties do not sit back and expect all to be given to them in the relationship. That’s not how a healthy relationship works.

    Do you have a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ?

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