In 1964, Ayn Rand published a book by that title.  I have read portions of the book but cannot say that I did a “cover to cover” analysis.  She defined selfishness as “concern with one’s own interests” and the freedom to do so.  She believed that equating selfishness with evil brought about “the arrested moral development of mankind.”  I’ll not spend time defending or disparaging her ethics.  Her life and the logical outcome of the choices based on her beliefs speak for themselves.  I feel badly for Ms. Rand.  I really wish she would have simply taken the brilliant advice of Jesus, applied His ethics and walked in His ways.  Her attempt to develop her own philosophy of life and gain followers was a failure.  She tried to invent her own life and wasted the life she had.  The teaching of Jesus about self-denial, properly understood, has proven effective in the lives of millions.  Applying the wisdom of deferred gratification has brought success to many people that were not even followers of Christ.  Virtue, by definition, is “behavior showing high moral standards.”  Selfishness is not a virtue.  A high moral standard would be characterized by words like, “selfless, giving, deferring, helpful, generous, kind” etc.  Jesus gave some simple instructions for life that our selfish desires often violate.  Paul explained how the ideals of our Lord could be applied in complex situations as we’ll see on Sunday, Lord willing.  Ignoring His good advice most often leads to dysfunction and further complexity.