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1 " Born as we are into a fallen race of sinners, we all tend to be selfish. We want things our way. We want what we want when we want it. Good parents do their best to train and discipline that selfishness out of us, and good teachers and pastors reinforce the lesson. But that self-centered tendency is deep-rooted, and it almost always requires hand-to-hand combat in the arena of life where the wants of self are pitted against the needs of others. Marriage and family provides this arena. Family is the perfect challenge to selfishness. Living in a family demands that I be sensitive to the needs of others. It demands my time. It intrudes on my wants. It tramples my ego. It virtually obliterates the concept of leisure. What a blessing!No, I'm not being facetious; these duties are truly blessings. Without such duties, we would become utterly self-centered, egotistical, and narcissistic- all of which are deadly because focus on self alienates us from God. Facing up to our duties beats down selfishness and forms godly character by challenging the supremacy of self.Let me be quick to say that marriage and family are not the only means of beating down the curse of selfishness. Many single people and childless couples are truly godly in character, compassionate, loving, and unselfish in all their doings. But I think marriage and family provide a rewarding means of dealing with selfishness because the glue that holds us to it when we'd rather bail out is love. "
― Michael W Smith
2 " I fear that we are being led to become morally lazy. Our affluence has given many of us almost immediate access to virtually anything we want. We have grown comfortable with indulgence, and we don't want to feel guilty about it. Guilt prods us toward the hard work of changing. That's why we want our heroes to be flawed like we are. They assure us that our weaknesses, addictions, moral lapses, and compromises are not unusual. Such heroes become mirrors reflecting a comfortable image that says, Hey, don't get so uptight about your failures and lapses. We're all like this. "
