One of the ugliest attitudes that humans express is selfishness. There are few things more off putting than people behaving selfishly, even when the person doing it is us. But why do we do this, and what does it have to do with sin?

When we sin, we are acting out of a selfish attitude and mind-set that assumes our action will lead us to more happiness than if we were to obey God. Selfishness is self-love, a tendency to be “curved inward” toward self, which means that it actually isn’t love at all. It is the opposite of love. 

Love looks outwardly to place others before oneself, operating from the mind-set that others are more important (Phil. 2:3).

Where sin selfishly seeks personal gratification and happiness, love works for the joy of others in the hopes of making others happy in God. Jesus is the embodiment of this outward-focused love, humbling Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, so that all who trust in Him can be free from sin forever.