(blank results) KJV

Selfish does not appear in the King James Version of the bible. I find that curious, so I examined other translations.

(ESV) Selfish Ambition.

(NASB) adds Selfish Appetite and Conceit.

(RSV) adds Ungrateful and Surly (Apocrypha).

(NIV) adds nothing new but expresses ambition as gain and end results.

I have to tell you I am surprised and perhaps a little disappointed that this is all I could find relating directly to selfishness. I expected more expressions or examples to learn from. If I am going to be honest with myself, it must be attached to a personal expression of my own conscience.

I am selfish with my time. Where does that fit in context with the scriptures? I suppose it depends on how I am using my time. I am zealous of my quiet time. I do not like to be disturbed when I am with my Lord. Is that a bad thing? Not in and of itself, but how does my expression of that zeal affect the person that wants my attention? My Lord has asked me to be kindly affectionate to others. At what point does my selfish zeal in a good thing become tainted?

Perhaps this is the real lesson of selfishness, not that we are selfish, because we are, but in how we allow those moments to affect relationships with others. Not just those we are know, but to anyone who might need the Lord at any particular moment.

“Not now” is a very off-putting term to hear. If you are hurting at the moment it will just intensify the moment and cast a bad light of the author of “not now”.

How about those times when I didn’t even hear the interruption? I get so engrossed in the moment at times that I don’t even hear my wife. I love her dearly and the last thing I want is to make her feel ignored or diminished. I do it, I am sad to say. I’d hate to think it is because I am selfish. Yet I am.