John Calvin

              The world pushes upon us a very individualistic mindset.  Everything is about you, yourself, and your gain.  Worldly people tend to possess a sense of entitlement – the idea that they are entitled to so many things.  They lack the view that everything is the Lord’s in the first place. 

                Because we are pushed to be individualistic, to think about ourselves and the betterment of our lives, we are a largely consumerist culture.  Everything is turned into a product trying to be sold.  People are tricked into thinking they can buy whatever they need to make them happy, pretty, popular, rich, or content.

                And it is widely accepted that all those things are what you need to be successful in life.  It’s the American Dream – live in a nice neighborhood, have a good-looking spouse and children, obtain a high and well-paying status at work, drive a nice car, have other nice possessions, etc.  Everything in our world is geared towards helping you achieve this, assuming that it is exactly what everyone wants and lives for.

                But John Calvin suggests that we deny those selfish desires and gains because we are not our own; therefore we should not be governing our own lives.  We are God’s.  “Let his wisdom and will dominate all our actions,” in the same way Jesus Christ did according to Philippians 2:1-11.  As he looked to the interests of others and submitted himself wholly to God’s will, he gave up his divine rights and his high position of royalty to be made lowly.  He did not look to benefit himself and make his own comfort a priority, because that was not what God had planned for him and he was okay with that.  He trusted the Lord, and therefore obeyed him completely.  He was able to deny himself and lift up those around him.  There is a stark contrast between the attitude and mindset of Christ and that of the world.