Selfishness is the Opposite of Christlikeness.

It's a very good conclusion of the first part of Romans 8 saying that all things works towards one ultimate goal, namely, to conform us to the likeness of Christ.

To think about it, it's quite scary. Did you ever read about Jesus smile or laugh in the NT? All we have is He wept, was sad, angry, grieved, you name it. Perhaps He smiled when Peter walked on the water? I don't know. But as Isaiah described, He is a man of sorrow. Am I going to be like that?

Of course, Paul is not encouraging us to frown always. Then what is conforming to Christ about? About what we should do? Serve in the church? Love others? Not sinning? Paul asked the question, "What, then, shall we say in response to this?" He continued, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I guess there is one very boring terminology that we always talk about, it is our relationship with God. I mean it is the answer of how we are conformed to Christ. We heard it many times that Jesus has the perfect relationship with God. Think about He is being sent to the cross by God. It is just like someone tell his wife/husband to be stripped, walk on the street then chop off the arms. It is totally "foolish" to do. However, Jesus' relationship with God brings obedience to Him that can bring our salvation, in order to restore our relationship with Him, which requires the same commitment.

To confirm with Christ, are we aiming for the same faithfulness to God? Do we want the blessing or the One who bless? Will we still follow God if He does not bless us? Is that what the image of Christ about? We cannot supply any needs God wants, because God doesn't not need anything, but He sacrifise for us.