Q: How does one balance the deep Christian requirement and desire to serve God and one’s fellow man in purest unselfishness with the desire to develop one’s own possibilities, abilities, and interests? When I was a child, I was told I was selfish and have spent much of my life striving to place unselfishness and unselfed service at the top of my priorities. This has led to a love-filled and satisfying life, but I still feel there is more I have not explored of myself. I’ve found that some of my long-cherished personal interests and even goals have been left by the wayside. There must be a balance, but I find it hard to put my own wishes, even needs, first.
A: That’s why I love this passage in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “… no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds” (p. 1).
Sometimes there’s an assumption that desire is inherently wrong, cannot be trusted, or must be selfish. But even the most trivial or base desires are a mask for something pure and deep, demanding to be seen and expressed in us: spiritual grace, wholeness, fulfillment, creativity, and generosity.
