Matters of the Heart

One day a certain old, rich man of a miserable disposition visited a pastor, who took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window.
‘Look out there,” He said. The rich man looked into the street.
“What do you see?” asked the pastor.
“I see men, women, and children, answered the rich man.
Again the pastor took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror.
“Now what do you see”? “Now I see myself,” The rich man replied.
Then the pastor said, “Behold, in the window there is glass, and in the mirror there is glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, but you see only yourself.Philippians 2:3 (New King James Version)
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Selfishness and pride are related. They focus on self and that is one sure way to have a defiled heart. Paul admonishes us not to do anything out of selfish ambition but instead we should consider others as better than ourselves.
Several verses address the whole issue of selfishness;

1 Corinthians 10:24 (AMP)
24 Let no one seek [only] his own good, but [also] that of the other person.

James 3:16 (AMP)
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder [unrest, rebellion] and every evil thing and morally degrading practice.

Acts 20:35 (AMP)
35 In everything I showed you [by example] that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed [and brings greater joy] to give than to receive.’”

Selfishness is self-sabotage, God created us to be givers and to work together as one body with Christ being the head. When you really think about it, many of the problems we have in the world today stem from the whole issue of selfishness.
May we remove the eyes from ourselves and like Jesus think of others and how to make their lives better.