In today's world, where personal interests and utilitarian calculations take precedence, it is hard not to notice how people increasingly forget their higher purpose—to serve God and find true harmony in their interactions with others.

Transcending Self-Interest: Rediscovering Our Divine Calling

In today's world, where personal interests and utilitarian calculations take precedence, it is hard not to notice how people increasingly forget their higher purpose—to serve God and find true harmony in their interactions with others. When entering new relationships, many view their counterparts merely as means to achieve personal well-being, which leads to a loss of depth and meaning in human communication.

The main problem lies in the fact that education, the choice of profession, starting a family, and even raising children sometimes become mechanisms for satisfying one’s own interests, leaving the search for spiritual orientation in the background. Instead of perceiving each person as a reflection of a higher goal, others are evaluated in terms of their independent utilitarian significance, whether that be economic gain or their role in serving superiors. Such relationships lack genuine human warmth and mutual understanding, as a person is always much more than simply a function in someone else’s success.

However, the truth remains unchanged: each of us is destined not only to fulfill our material aspirations but also to seek a deeper meaning through the service of higher values. Returning to genuine communication and restoring the priority of the spiritual over the utilitarian is our opportunity to revive respect for humanity and once again experience the true joy of mutual service and support.

Thus, the call to return to true values serves as a challenge to our times—to stop seeing people merely as tools for achieving personal gain and to cultivate the ability to see in each individual a reflection of a higher ideal. Let us take a step toward spiritual unity, where each of us finds our true purpose, filled with energy and hope for a better future.

But why, despite the idea that man exists primarily for God, do many pursue relationships with others for personal gain?

The answer is that, despite the higher calling to serve God, many people become immersed in a narrow circle of self-centered aspirations. This focus on personal gain in relationships arises because, in their worldview, interactions with others are predominantly seen through a utilitarian lens. In other words, instead of seeing in every neighbor the reflection of a higher goal, people start evaluating their relationships in terms of personal benefit, convenience, and even economic value.

As noted in one source, the problem lies in the fact that “Our problem often lies in the fact that everything we do is directed toward serving ourselves. People receive an education, acquire a specialization, get married, have children, and constantly strive to improve their lives... while God takes a secondary place in their lives” (source: link txt, Page 805-806). This statement shows that the primary tendency of most people is to build their lives to primarily satisfy personal needs rather than to devote themselves to their higher calling, which is embodied in serving God and engaging in genuine communication.

Moreover, modern attitudes toward people can also be seen in economic individualism, where relationships are reduced to exchanges of services and benefits. In one excerpt, it is stated: “In this world, a person strives to be above another, to rule, command, and subordinate others. A superior sees in their subordinate not a person, but a function…” (source: link txt, Page 6339). Such relationships lack depth and true meaning because a person is not merely a means to an end but an individual capable of genuine communication.

Thus, despite the notion that man is created primarily to serve God and find true fulfillment in higher values, many people, influenced by self-interest, perceive relationships more as a way to achieve personal gain than as an opportunity for mutual service and authentic communication.

Supporting citation(s):
“It is not so much important what or how a person strives to serve God, as long as they serve Him. Our problem often lies in the fact that everything we do is directed toward serving ourselves. People receive an education, acquire a specialization, get married, have children, and constantly strive to improve their lives so that everything is good. And God takes a secondary place in their lives…” (source: link txt, Page 805-806).

“In this world, a person strives to be above another, to rule, command, and subordinate others. A superior sees in their subordinate not a person, but a function: this person is a secretary, an accountant, a cleaner…” (source: link txt, Page 6339).