Love Conquers Selfishness
Christ came to redeem us from self, and deliverance from self-life means to be a vessel overflowing with love to everybody all the day.
Andrew Murray emphasizes that love is the essential fruit of the Spirit, which is necessary to conquer our inherent selfishness. He explains that self-centeredness is a significant curse that affects our relationships with God and others, and that true deliverance from the self-life involves becoming vessels of love. Many seek the power of the Holy Spirit for personal gain or service but overlook the need for complete liberation from selfishness, which is crucial for genuine love to flow. Murray reassures that Christ can fill our hearts with love, enabling us to serve others selflessly. Ultimately, love is the antidote to selfishness, transforming our interactions with both God and fellow humans.
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"The fruit of the Spirit is love." Why? Because nothing but love can expel and conquer our selfishness.
Self is the great curse, whether in its relation to God, or to our fellow-men in general, or to fellow-Christians, thinking of ourselves and seeking our own. Self is our greatest curse. But, praise God, Christ came to redeem us from self. We sometimes talk about deliverance from the self-life -- and thank God for every word that can be said about it to help us -- but I am afraid some people think deliverance from the self-life means that now they are going to have no longer any trouble in serving God; and they forget that deliverance from self-life means to be a vessel overflowing with love to everybody all the day.
And there you have the reason why many people pray for the power of the Holy Ghost, and they get something, but oh, so little! because they prayed for power for work, and power for blessing, but they have not prayed for power for full deliverance from self. That means not only the righteous self in intercourse with God, but the unloving self in intercourse with men. And there is deliverance. "The fruit of the Spirit is love." I bring you the glorious promise of Christ that He is able to fill our hearts with love.
Sermon Outline
- The Curse of Self
- Deliverance from Self
- The Power of Love
- The fruit of the Spirit is love
- Deliverance from self means full deliverance from self
- Self in relation to fellow-Christians
Key Quotes
“The fruit of the Spirit is love.” — Andrew Murray
“Self is our greatest curse.” — Andrew Murray
“Deliverance from the self-life means to be a vessel overflowing with love to everybody all the day.” — Andrew Murray
Application Points
- We must pray for full deliverance from self, not just power for work or blessing.
- Deliverance from self-life means to be a vessel overflowing with love to everybody all the day.
- Christ is able to fill our hearts with love.