This purpose of this post is for Christian meditation and self-examination leading to repentance:
The following song by Roy Clark perfectly illustrates a life lived to the glory of self: regret and emptiness exude from every word.
Proverbs 5 summarizes the regret of this type of life pointedly. I pasted it in below, please read it after you listen, attend particularly to the emboldened areas. It warns that the way of self leads to utter ruin:
Proverbs 5:
Pro 5:1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel.
Pro 5:2 Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned.
Pro 5:3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil.
Pro 5:4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
Pro 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.
Pro 5:6 For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.
Pro 5:7 So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say:
Pro 5:8 Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house!
Pro 5:9 If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.
Pro 5:10 Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
Pro 5:11 In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body.
Pro 5:12 You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
Pro 5:13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
Pro 5:14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.”
Pro 5:15 Drink water from your own well—share your love only with your wife.
Pro 5:16 Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?
Pro 5:17 You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers.
Pro 5:18 Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
Pro 5:19 She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.
Pro 5:20 Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?
Pro 5:21 For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes.
Pro 5:22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.
Pro 5:23 He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.
An evil man, according to scripture, is a man who cares nothing for the things of God, but only for the things of self.