Why do people cling to the idea of selflessness?

Question

There are no selfless acts. All things we do, good and bad, we do first to satisfy ourselves. So why cling to the idea of selflessness?

Allow me to elaborate for those who think the crucifiction was selfless.
Who told Jesus to do it? So it pleased him to please his father more than it pleased him to continue living. It's as simple as that. He was more contented pleasing his father than himself.

John, he would have rather died than live with himself knowing that he let those others die.

Answer 1

That is a good point....even if you do something that you believe that God wants you to do...You do it because of the good feeling you get from doing what he wants you to do.....That is the reward.

I have noticed that people who practice "selflessness," seem to get resentful after awhile because they are doing all this stuff and they tend to get an attitude like, "why am I doing all this, and nothing good is happening to me?" It then, turns to anger...

They just need to stop and realize that it is not all the stuff they are doing for God/others, but what they really need is to find out what they are really supposed to be doing, so they can be at peace....

Answer 2

Altruism that kills a person could be viewed as selfless

(e.g., a plan crashes into a river. A man jumps in and saves one person; and then the next; and then the next; and he keeps going until he is so tired that he drowns. All of this happens in the dark, at night; nobody knows his name; it is dark; there are no crowds to see his heroism; he dies. It is dark).

Cordially,
John

Answer 3

Yes, Jesus wanted to please His Father. BUT....He wanted to do that because He desired to do the WILL of His Father, to obey Him, and to pay the debt that all humanity owed yet couldn't pay themselves.

His act was self-less because He did it FOR others.....for His Father's pleasure and for OUR good. Do you honestly think He WANTED to do it in ANY way? Of course not! He even prayed that His Father would REMOVE the 'cup' from Him, yet prayed "Not My will but Thine".

In what way do you think that wasn't self-less???

And I don't believe that we all help others or do acts of kindness just because it makes us feel better. Yes, sometimes that may be true. But even though helping others DOES make a person feel good (or it should anyway), that ISN'T the reason that I do acts of kindness. I ENJOY doing them. I'd say that any good vibes I feel after wards are just an added BONUS!

If you do good deeds so that YOU'LL feel better about yourself, then I suggest that you take a real close look at your heart and double check your motives.

Answer 4

Well as an example. I was at a restaurant the other day and found a diamond ring on the sink in the bathroom. without even thinking i immediately brought it up front. a woman went running into the bathroom a few minutes later and came running back out. i directed her to the front desk, and she obviously thanked me a lot, which made me feel great. BUT

i didnt return the ring to feel good about myself. i just did it automatically.

Answer 5

Jesus death on the cross was a selfless as they come, I think people are just trying to follow His pattern.

Answer 6

Altruism starts early in children, before they worry about this sort of thing. Anyway, I help other not because I know that I will have a nice warm feeling, but because it is the right thing to do. I have done many things that have left me feeling worse that I started to help others.

Anyway, the good feelings are a nice bonus of doing something nice.

Answer 7

Because you can satisfy yourself by helping a blind person cross the street, or you can satisfy yourself by kicking dogs to death. If you can see the difference, you'll see that selflessness is relevant.

Answer 8

Good point. Some people say it makes them feel good when they feed the hungry or something like that, but making yourself feel good makes it where you do the act for yourself. I think there's very few deeds that can be considered selfless.

Answer 9

There is some truth to that. The fact is that when you help others, you are somewhat helping yourself. I believe what people really want is not to think of themselves as superior because we have strengths and weaknesses that balance us out. That's probably one of the best points in such argument.

Answer 10

Because there are still people who commit selfless acts.