Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."

Today our culture is big on take care of yourself first, then you'll be in a position to care for others.  However, this degenerates into taking care of yourself and not caring for others because you're too busy taking care of yourself!  We are not just told to regard one another as equals, but to regard others as more important than ourselves; the complete opposite of today's consensus.

I read a staggering stat given by Michael Horton in the forward to the book Faith Alone by RC Sproul.  It said that 80% of professing evangelicals polled in a survey believe that "God helps those who help themselves."

We don't need any encouragement to help ourselves, that comes naturally, what we need to keep in mind is the interests of others, not merely our own personal interests.

May God help us be more selfless.