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Is seeking salvation not a self-centered motivation when establishing a relationship with Jesus?

 Yes, seeking salvation can absolutely feel or appear self-centered at first glance—after all, it starts with “I don’t want to go to hell” or “I want eternal life.” That’s a very human, very honest starting point. Most people don’t come to faith because they suddenly wake up one day overflowing with pure altruism toward God. They come because they become aware of their own brokenness, guilt, fear of death, or longing for meaning, and Jesus offers rescue. But Christianity (at least in its orthodox, biblical form) doesn’t leave people stuck in that self-centered motivation. It reframes and transforms it. Jesus Himself invites people with exactly that “self-interested” hook: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again” (John 4:14). “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger” (John 6:35). The offer is deeply personal and meets our deepest needs...

Is seeking salvation not a self-centered motivation when establishing a relationship with Jesus?

 Yes, seeking salvation can absolutely feel or appear self-centered at first glance—after all, it starts with “I don’t want to go to hell” or “I want eternal life.” That’s a very human, very honest starting point. Most people don’t come to faith because they suddenly wake up one day overflowing with pure altruism toward God. They come because they become aware of their own brokenness, guilt, fear of death, or longing for meaning, and Jesus offers rescue.


But Christianity (at least in its orthodox, biblical form) doesn’t leave people stuck in that self-centered motivation. It reframes and transforms it.


Jesus Himself invites people with exactly that “self-interested” hook: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again” (John 4:14). “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger” (John 6:35). The offer is deeply personal and meets our deepest needs first.


Yet the same Jesus immediately turns that around: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). And “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38).


So the gospel doesn’t deny the initial self-concern; it redeems it. Salvation isn’t the end goal—it’s the doorway. Once you’re inside, you discover that the greatest joy, the highest good, the most fulfilling life isn’t in getting saved and then coasting, but in knowing, loving, worshiping, and serving the One who saved you.


Think of it like marriage. Many people initially pursue a spouse because they want companionship, love, intimacy, security—pretty self-oriented motives. But a healthy marriage doesn’t stay there. Over time, the deepest satisfaction comes not from what you get, but from knowing and cherishing the other person, serving them, delighting in them for who they are.


C.S. Lewis put it memorably in *The Weight of Glory*:


“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”


The child isn’t wrong to want pleasure—he’s just aiming far too low. God doesn’t scold us for wanting joy; He says, “I am the source of the highest, deepest, lasting joy. Come to Me, and you’ll find it—not in obsessing over your own salvation, but in Me.”


So no, seeking salvation isn’t ultimately the most self-centered thing if it leads to the true end: loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. In fact, the most mature faith is the one that forgets itself in adoration of Him. The initial self-interest is the God-given on-ramp to the highway of knowing and enjoying Him forever.


That’s what I think, anyway. The beauty of the gospel is that it meets us in our selfishness and slowly, graciously, turns our hearts outward toward the One who is infinitely worthy of love.

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