Think of how many marriages wouldn't have failed, how many conflicts between friends, relatives and countries wouldn't have happened, if it weren't for selfishness. So many economies wouldn't have collapsed but for selfish greed. Nations and empires fell because selfishness filtered down to the average citizen.

In simple terms, selfishness is the opposite of love—especially divine love. Godly love is all about putting others' needs before your own. God's desire is for us to love each other as He loves us (John 15:12). That's a tall order, and it requires us to think differently than human nature tends to think.

Vertical Thought was started with the mission of encouraging young adults to think "vertically"—to think on things from a higher perspective, to think more about and more like God (Colossians 3:1-2). The step after thought is action. That's what all of us involved in putting this magazine together want you to do—act on the Bible's instructions that we talk about.

In this issue you'll find articles about the effects of selfishness. Why is there war, and what does God want us to think and do about it? Why does the Bible have so many stories about people we might call villains? Do we have good examples of selfless leadership in history and even in our modern culture?

You'll also find articles about how to reconcile science with the Bible—can they agree? One of the biggest lies taught in the world is the lie of evolution. This philosophy is a selfish denial of reality, declaring in essence, "I don't care what God says; I'm going to live my life as if He doesn't exist."

Furthermore, how do we use our emotions to worship God? Are we free to worship Him in whatever way we want, or does He tell us how to worship Him? How can we avoid letting our emotions become a selfish form of worship? Last (but not least), are we willing to make a commitment to completely obey God, or are we still afraid or hesitant? How can we overcome that?

We invite you to not only read the articles prepared for this issue, but to think deeply about what each author has written. The Vertical Thought staff also encourages you to make sure what we write is backed up in God's Word. We want you to be spiritually successful in this life, so that you can inherit the promise of eternal life (1 John 2:25). Moses recorded that our choice is simple—life or death (Deuteronomy 30:19).

God wants you to choose life! But the choice is yours. Resist the selfishness promoted by so much of this world's culture. And above all, keep thinking vertically!