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What was the original sin? I've always heard that it was pride as in Satan desiring to make himself higher than God and to be worshiped. As for Adam and Eve most people agree that it was disobedience, not obeying God.
But I'm thinking although those are true perhaps the main culprit was selfishness. Webster's Dictionary gives this definition for selfishness:
The quality or state of being selfish : a concern for one's own welfare or advantage at the expense of or in disregard of others : excessive interest in oneself.
Genesis 3:5
For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”
In other words, the serpent tempted Eve with the promise that eating the forbidden fruit would grant her knowledge and godlike understanding.
That sounds a lot like selfishness to me. Especially when you think of selfishness as the putting of self in the place of God. Though all selfishness is sin, and there is an element of selfishness in all sin, can it be said that selfishness is the essence of sin? Is it the main reason we sin? We want what we don't have and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it?
If we look to our example, Jesus loves sacrificially. He commands us to love as He does. Love requires us to do good for others. Is our motivation selfless or selfish? If it is selfish, there is a good chance that our good deeds will be shallow and, more importantly, will not last. We're probably not doing them with the right motive.
I think it all boils down to our love walk found in 1 Corinthians 13:5-7
Love Is Not Selfish
The phrase comes from two Greek words meaning “to seek” and “one’s own interests.” Literally the phrase means to always be looking out for your own interests. That is the core of selfishness. The RSV translates the phrase like this: “Love does not insist on its own way.” The Phillips translation reads, “Love does not pursue selfish advantage.”
And the New English Bible says, “Love is never selfish.” I believe this the key to everything that we have and will study. The root of all evil in human nature is the desire to have one’s own way. Self-centeredness is the exact opposite of agape love.
Agape love is love that seeks the best interest of the one loved. Selfishness seeks the best interest for one’s own self, so the two are exactly opposite. It is not possible to have agape love and to have self-seeking or self-interest. R. C. H. Linski, the well-known commentator, has said, “If you can cure selfishness, you have just replanted the Garden of Eden.”
It was selfishness that caused Adam and Eve to reject God’s way in favor of their own desires. Self replaced God in their hearts and they determined to go their own way. Love, on the other hand, is not interested in its own way, but is preoccupied with the interests of others.
But I'm thinking although those are true perhaps the main culprit was selfishness. Webster's Dictionary gives this definition for selfishness:
The quality or state of being selfish : a concern for one's own welfare or advantage at the expense of or in disregard of others : excessive interest in oneself.
Genesis 3:5
For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”
In other words, the serpent tempted Eve with the promise that eating the forbidden fruit would grant her knowledge and godlike understanding.
That sounds a lot like selfishness to me. Especially when you think of selfishness as the putting of self in the place of God. Though all selfishness is sin, and there is an element of selfishness in all sin, can it be said that selfishness is the essence of sin? Is it the main reason we sin? We want what we don't have and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it?
If we look to our example, Jesus loves sacrificially. He commands us to love as He does. Love requires us to do good for others. Is our motivation selfless or selfish? If it is selfish, there is a good chance that our good deeds will be shallow and, more importantly, will not last. We're probably not doing them with the right motive.
I think it all boils down to our love walk found in 1 Corinthians 13:5-7
Love Is Not Selfish
The phrase comes from two Greek words meaning “to seek” and “one’s own interests.” Literally the phrase means to always be looking out for your own interests. That is the core of selfishness. The RSV translates the phrase like this: “Love does not insist on its own way.” The Phillips translation reads, “Love does not pursue selfish advantage.”
And the New English Bible says, “Love is never selfish.” I believe this the key to everything that we have and will study. The root of all evil in human nature is the desire to have one’s own way. Self-centeredness is the exact opposite of agape love.
Agape love is love that seeks the best interest of the one loved. Selfishness seeks the best interest for one’s own self, so the two are exactly opposite. It is not possible to have agape love and to have self-seeking or self-interest. R. C. H. Linski, the well-known commentator, has said, “If you can cure selfishness, you have just replanted the Garden of Eden.”
It was selfishness that caused Adam and Eve to reject God’s way in favor of their own desires. Self replaced God in their hearts and they determined to go their own way. Love, on the other hand, is not interested in its own way, but is preoccupied with the interests of others.
