Self-serving. It's a word that has zero positive connotations, especially among people of faith. Christians are supposed to be other-focused, even to the point of neglecting themselves in the process . . . right?

Pastor and provocateur Ryan Thomas wants to challenge that cliche and restore healthy self-interest to a respectable place in our vocabulary. He insightfully points out that throughout the Bible there are always three reasons for taking the right action, each intertwined and equally valid: love for others, love for God, and love for oneself.

With careful reasoning and equally careful Bible study, Thomas helps us discover that the potent, naturally occurring drive of self-interest--the desire to seek our own good and avoid our own harm--is a perfectly legitimate and spiritually acceptable motive after all. Once we start seeing self-interest as a God-given resource that can be harnessed for good, we find a whole new set of reasons for pushing ourselves further in the life of faith.