Why does god want us to be Selfless?

Question

Why does god want us to be Selfless?

Answer 1

best cause their is a greater good, right now we are sleep when we die we will be awake

Answer 2

there are no gods....... religion is only used by stupid insecure people who cant hack real life....it is also a great excuse for people to give reason to killing and maiming each other

Answer 3

Are u selfless? I know I'm not.

Answer 4

Don't know if i would put it that way !! I think he wants us to be more forgiving of others !!!Not always put ourselves first !!!

Answer 5

"Atman, or the True "Self"

Here I stand and if I shut my eyes, and try to conceive my existence, "I", "I", "I", what is the idea before me? The idea of a body. Am I, then, nothing but a combination of material substances? The Vedas declare, "No". I am a spirit living in a body. I am not the body. The body will die, but I shall not die. Here am I in this body; it will fall, but I shall go on living. I had also a past. The soul was not created, for creation means a combination, which means a certain future dissolution. If then the soul was created, it must die.

Karma and Reincarnation

Some are born happy, enjoy perfect health, with beautiful body, mental vigor and all wants supplied. Others are born miserable, some are without hands or feet, others again are idiots and only drag on a wretched existence. If they are all created, why does a just and merciful God create one happy and another unhappy, why is He so partial? Nor would it mend matters in the least to hold that those who are miserable in this life will be happy in a future one. Why should a person be miserable even here in the reign of a just and merciful God?

In the second place, the idea of a creator God does not explain the anomaly, but simply expresses the cruel fiat of an all-powerful being. There must have been causes, then, before our birth, to make us miserable or happy and those were our past actions.

Are not all the tendencies of the mind and the body accounted for by inherited aptitude? Here are two parallel lines of existence--one of the mind ["subtle" matter], the other of [gross] matter. If [gross] matter and its transformations answer for all that we have, there is no necessity for supposing the existence of a [mind and a] soul. But it cannot be proved that thought has evolved out of matter, and if a philosophical monism is inevitable, spiritual monism is certainly logical and no less desirable than a materialistic monism; but neither of these is necessary here.

We cannot deny that bodies acquire certain tendencies from heredity, but those tendencies only mean the physical configuration through which a peculiar mind alone can act in a peculiar way. There are other tendencies peculiar to a mind caused by the person’s past actions. And a soul with a certain mental tendency would by the laws of affinity take birth in a body which is the fittest instrument for the display of that tendency. This is in accord with science, for science wants to explain everything by habit, and habit is got through repetitions. So repetitions are necessary to explain the natural habits of a new-born soul. And since they were not obtained in this present life, they must have come down from past lives.

There is another suggestion. Taking all these for granted, how is it that I do not remember anything of my past life? This can be easily explained. I am now speaking English. It is not my mother tongue, in fact no words of my mother tongue are now present in my consciousness; but let me try to bring them up, and they rush in. That shows that consciousness is only the surface of the mental ocean, and within its depths are stored up all our experiences. Try and struggle, they would come up and you would be conscious even of your past life.

This is direct and demonstrative evidence. Verification is the perfect proof of a theory, and here is the challenge thrown to the world by the Rishis. We have discovered the secret by which the very depths of the ocean of memory can be stirred up--try it and you would get a complete reminiscence of your past life." - Swami Vivekananda.

Answer 6

Because he/she/it is the most selfish one of all.

Answer 7

God wants us to be selfless so we can be used by him. It is a choice we have to make out of our own free will.

Answer 8

it cant hurt to think of others once in a while huh?

Answer 9

Yeah god wanted us to be selfless because every humans has their weakness and strength.If humans as individuals only concern about themselves and not about other, then nothing can be accomplished

Answer 10

Because he does not want us to be greedy.

Answer 11

Because it is really the secret to happiness and fullfillment in life: putting others first.

Just think about it for a second: Who is one of the richest people in the world? Then think why: they did something that helps a bunch of people. Thanks to good old Gates, you can use your computer right now. Thanks to good old sam walton, you can buy stuff at wally world for cheaper than a lot of other stores. Because people really worked hard to provide something that benefits society, they were rewarded with wealth.

Who has the best relationships in life? The married couple that truly love each other, and put each other firsr, or the people that look a every girl/guy they see, and flirt with everyone, and do their own thing? A happy married couple listens to each other, they don't cheat, etc. Because they are not selfish, they are able to fully love one another.

Who is the most fulfilled in life? A person that only seeks to pleasure themselves and do what they want all the time. NO. These are usually the people that feel so empty, bored, and unfulfilled inside. The reason is that they only seek to satisfy themselves (a selfish act). Even if they don't realize it, but that is what they do.

Yet who are some of the most happy people in life? Those that reach out and help others, seek to benefit others, and to give back to others.

That doesn't mean you can't have things in life, or do what you want. You can. But I think God wants us to be selfless, because the world isn't about me me me. It is about us us us and God. Great things in life never come from selfishness. Truly great and wonderful things only come from selflessness.

Great question by the way---have a great day.

Answer 12

because that's how he is.

Answer 13

I would say it probably has something to do with this:

Isa:14:12: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Isa:14:13: For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Isa:14:14: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Isa:14:15: Yet thou shalt be brought down to h**l, to the sides of the pit.

Isa:14:16: They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

Isa:14:17: That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Isa:14:18: All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.

Isa:14:19: But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.

That is why,

Psalms:147:6: The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.

Take care and may God bless you spiritually.

Answer 14

He doesn't.  He asks that we love others as we love ourselves.

i.e. not self-obsessed

Answer 15

So you can look after others and ensure taxpayer value for money.

Answer 16

Because:-

1) Selflessness reflects His nature in us. Having created us in His image He would have us display His characteristics.

2) He has a plan for each of our lives that involves us glorifying Him, not ourselves.

3) If we would exercise our faith & trust that He is more than able to look after us:-

> a) We have no need to be selfish, He will provide.

> b) He will reward our faith in Him.

> c) He will use use us in amazing ways.

4) When we are not, we dishonor Jesus and give ground to the enemy.