Selfishness is the original sin. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they were placing their own desire above God's command — the first act of self-centeredness in human history. Every subsequent sin is a variation on that theme: the self placed where God should be, or above the neighbor, or at the expense of others. Paul lists it as a mark of the last days: "In the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers..." (2 Timothy 3:1-2). The phrase "lovers of themselves" is one Greek word, philautoi — self-lovers. Christ's whole pattern is the opposite: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:5-8). Selflessness is not the same as self-hatred, which is another form of self-preoccupation. It is the deliberate attention to others, the willingness to sacrifice for them, and the freedom from the tyranny of self that comes from finding one's identity in Christ. The selfish man is always exhausted because he is always serving himself. The selfless man finds rest in the service of God and others: "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25).