“If man is not made for God, why is he not happy except in God? If man is made for God, why is he so opposed to God?’ (Blaise Pascal)
Our own opposition to God often has its roots in deficient theology, self-righteous morality, self-seeking, and pride…The reason why wicked men and devils hate God is, because they see Him in relation to themselves. Their hearts rise up in rebellion, because they see Him opposed to their selfishness." (Dynamis 4/19/2015, Charles Finney)
"Pride is thinking you are better than others or that you deserve better than others. Therefore, when we ourselves are guilty of this or any other sin, we do not recognize it, or at best we justify it; but when we see it in others, we have no mercy at all. Pride is therefore ultimately an opposition to the second great commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). For the more we love others as we love ourselves, the less we will be upset that they are better, or better off, than we are." (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)
“…love is by its very nature the exact opposite of egocentricity. We use the word love loosely. We use it to dignify any number of demands for attention, power, security, or entertainment from other people. But when we are looking out for our own self-styled “needs,” our own desires, our own dreams, and our power over people, this is not love. Love is utterly distinct from our ego’s desires and power plays. It leads in a different direction: toward the goodness, the value, and the needs of the people around us.” (Robert A. Johnson)
“Jesus made it clear that the message of Christian faith is nothing less than the turning of all our expectations upside down. We live in a dog-eat-dog world in which we are counseled continually to look out for our own interests. Yet our salvation is found is adopting the exact opposite attitude.” (Father Barnabas Powell)