My chief objective in life is to meet my needs and satisfy my wants myself right now.

Call it human nature.

Call it self-preservation.

Or call it what it really is – sin.

In no way, shape, or form is my approach to life biblical.  Nothing in it speaks of serving others, living a life of love, or dying to self.  In fact, it’s precisely the opposite of the Bible.

Why would I, someone who both knows and believes what the Bible says, consciously live a life opposed to the commands it contains?

I think, at least in part, it’s because I too often buy into the counter-biblical idea that now is all that is guaranteed.  The present is all I can control.  And if I spend my whole life living for others, I’m gonna miss my only chance to live a life that makes me happy.

In other words, I justify my self-centeredness with lies.

The truth is that because I have a relationship with Christ, now is not all there is.  I have an eternity in Heaven guaranteed me, and I will be happier there than I could ever be living life my way on earth.

The truth is this earthly life is just a drop in a bottomless bucket of time.  And if Jesus asks me to be a selfless servant for that fraction of eternity, I can do so joyfully with the understanding that my personal happiness will be fulfilled in the future.  In fact, if I choose to obey Jesus now by acting selflessly, my happiness in Heaven will be even greater than it will be if I disobey Him and live my earthly life my own way.

Psychologists muse that maturity is the willingness to delay gratification by choosing to wait for something even better.

Spiritual maturity works the same way.

Are we willing to delay our own happiness now by choosing to serve others, knowing that even more fulfilling, eternal happiness awaits us in Heaven?