Selfishness: The Great Evil of Our Nature

Selfishness is the great evil of our nature. In the natural mind, or the mind which has not true faith in God, and which in not having faith in God necessarily makes man its God, it not only exists in the highest degree, but exists always. It reigns there, as if in its own kingdom, and on its own throne. 

And the history of the church generally, as well as of individual man, conclusively shows, that, if it is ever overthrown and removed from its position, it must be done in the way indicated in the passage from John, which we have quoted. “And this is the victory, that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 

It is faith, which possesses this wonderful power. It is faith in God, inspired by the operation of the Holy Ghost, which begins the contest with the dreadful evil, that naturally exists within us. It is faith, which sustains us in the progress of this trying and oftentimes doubtful conflict; it is faith, which ultimately gives the triumph.

 — The Life of Faith, Part 2, Chapter 3.

Unity and Duality in God

Of... the Unity of the divine Nature, we shall have but little comparatively to say, because it is a subject on which much has been ably written, and is one which to thinking and philosophic minds is but little short of self-evident. The argument on the subject is commonly and very justly drawn from the evidences of oneness of design in the multiplied objects of creation.

There is a foundation for the argument from creation, because creation implies the fact of a creator, and because, looking at these objects in the light of their logical relation, creation does not contain anything which did not antecedently exist in the ideas of the creating Mind, so that creation, existing in the universe of objects around us, may justly be regarded as the out-going, the reflex, or if it be preferred, the shadows of the Infinite. And accordingly what God is in the eternal principles of his nature, including his Unity, is written not merely in the messages of Prophets and Apostles, but in his out-goings, in the emanations of Himself which exist in the things that are made, in the great robe of created forms and life which hangs as a garment around the brightness of his essential being. And there, as we read in accordance with the laws of our mental beings the multiplied facts of emanated or created existence, which are expressions of the oneness of thought and plan that lie hidden in the Source or Centre from which they come, our convictions become harmonized and consolidated in a particular direction; and at last it is impossible for us to doubt the Unity of that great Creative Centre. We cannot dwell, nor do we feel it to be necessary, upon the specific processes of thought by which this is done. Nevertheless, UNITY is the first word in the divine alphabet; and Nature, speaking in her silent voices, and writing her record in the book of the Absolute Religion, harmonizes with the Scriptures in saying, God is ONE God.

Selfishness and Desire

 

Selfishness shows itself, in a special manner, in the inordinate action of the desires. 

 Desire, it is well understood, is a distinct tendency or principle of the human mind, known by the circumstances of its origin and by its being distinguished in our consciousness from every other state of mind; but it is worthy of notice, that it exists, and that it exhibits itself under different and important modifications. In its connection with the wants and laws of the physical system, it assumes, for instance, the well known modification of the Appetites; a class of natural principles, which are necessary and right in their origin, but which are frequently perverse and debasing in their application. The desire of personal happiness, the desire of society, the desire of knowledge, the desire of esteem, and others which might be mentioned, are other modifications of the same general principle; less closely connected with the physical nature than the appetites are, and distinguished for this, and for other reasons, as the Propensive principles or the Propensities. But these, as well as the appetites, are subject, under the influence of inordinate self-love, to a perverted action; not so gross perhaps and so debasing, but still not less real and not less sinful. Our natural Affections also, the affection of parents for their children and of children for their parents and other similar affections, (a still higher and more noble class of natural principles than those which have just been mentioned,) have desire for their basis, and may very properly be regarded as its modifications. 

Each and all of these principles or classes of principles are liable to assume an inordinate and wrong position; and in point of fact it cannot be doubted, that they do frequently and almost continually go astray under various circumstances and in various degrees. But it seems to me, so far as a judgment can be formed in the case, that they never assume a wrong position, that they never become perverted and sinful, except under the influence, (an influence as secret and extensive, as it is baleful,) of the vice or crime of selfishness. Even when these principles err by undue weakness as well as by excess, which is sometimes the case, the result can be traced to the influence of the same inordinate love of self, operating in a different direction, but destroying by what it takes away as well as by what it gives.

— The Life of Faith, Part 2, Chapter 3.

Victory by Faith

In considering the Power or Effects of faith in the regulation of Man’s Inward Nature, our attention is... directed to a striking passage in the writings of John. “Whatsoever is born of God,” says the Apostle John, Second Epistle 5:4, “OVERCOMETH THE WORLD. And this is the victory, that overcometh the world, even our faith.” The term world, as it is employed by the Apostle in this passage, is obviously of wide import; including the world inward, as well as the world outward; the human heart, as well as the objects around us, to which the inward state gives their character and their power. 

 And, accordingly, the victory over the world, whatever else the expressions may be supposed to indicate, includes especially and emphatically the victory over ourselves. Perhaps we ought to say, it is the victory over whatever sin has rendered inordinate and evil in ourselves. In other words, and still more definitely, it is the victory over SELFISHNESS; a victory, which places us in such a position, that the world, in the variety of its enticements and temptations both inward and outward, cannot reach us and touch us to our hurt. And this victory is by faith.

— The Life of Faith, Part 2, Chapter 3.

Faith in People Leads to Deception

He, who has faith in himself and his fellow-men, exclusive of faith in God, or just in proportion as God is excluded, is known by a disposition to resort to human arts, and to rest strongly in human policy. And as a natural consequence of this, when the looks and the sayings of men are favorable, we find him cheered with increased hopes drawn from that source; but when the current of public sentiment sets in opposition, we see too clearly, that he is filled with despondency and dismay. Still, deceived by his own worldly spirit, he does not cease to place his hope where he placed it before. Even in his sorrows and disappointments, he casts upward no strong look of confidence towards God; or rather does not look towards him at all. But relying upon human strength, he continues to resort to those artifices which conciliate popular favor, while God is forgotten. And thus, deceived himself and deceived by others, he can find no true refreshment and strength of soul, because he applies to that “broken cistern, which can hold no water.”

On the other hand, the man, who has true and full faith in God, has no confidence, no faith in the creature, except as God’s instrument, as being under God’s direction, and as attended by God’s blessing. It is very proper, undoubtedly, and is entirely consistent with what has been said, to have faith in our fellow-men, and to have faith in ourselves, considered as God’s instruments, as reflecting God’s image, and as operating in the line of God’s providences; or in other words, to have faith in God in us. But it is not proper and it is not safe for us, as we have already seen, to have faith either in ourselves or in others, independently of God. The man, who has true faith in God, and who in having such faith is a true Christian, cannot do it.

 

— The Life of Faith, Part 2, Chapter 2.

Trust in God Only

As Christians, have faith in God; and have faith in that, and that only, which has God in it. Whenever and wherever you can see the divine nature in the human nature, “God manifest in the flesh,” by meekness, purity, and love, so far you may trust. So far as God is not there, you can trust only as you would trust that which is without true wisdom and without true strength; which is the same thing as to say, that there is, in reality, no place for trust. So that it is easiest and shortest, because it is wisest and truest, to say, trust in God only. Throw aside every other support. Reject every other refuge. Consider man out of God as what he really is, nothing. And looking to him, who is just the opposite, the All in All, say, in the significant and beautiful language of the Psalmist, “My soul, wait thou ONLY upon God, for my expectation is from him.”

 

— The Life of Faith, Part 2, Chapter 2.

Faith in God and Faith in People

In remarking on the relation of faith in God to faith in the creature, it will be kept in mind, that we are speaking of religious faith, in distinction from natural faith. It is undoubtedly true, that as natural men, that is to say, as men without religion, we may properly exercise a degree of confidence or faith in others, considered as natural men. Perhaps we may say, it is unavoidable. Man is so constituted, that he naturally and necessarily has faith in something. He cannot live without it. If a man has not faith in God, it is a matter of course, that he has faith in something which is not God. And just in proportion as that faith, which is due to God, fails to be placed where it is due, it will invariably be found to be given and placed somewhere else. Those, therefore, who have not faith in God, are consistent with themselves, and consistent with their fallen nature, in placing faith in men. They cannot well do otherwise. Man, such as he is, and with such power as he can impart, is their support. In a word, by the very fact of not placing faith in God, who is the “I AM,” the ALL in ALL, and by placing it in man, they make man their God. This is natural; it is the unavoidable result of the natural life.