Much of what you will read in these pages deals with our basic bent toward self-centeredness. It may cause some personal discomfort as you learn that God has given us the freedom to be selfish, but has also put in place a plan to diminish that selfishness. Call it brokenness, testing, trials, or suffering, it is God's way to use the world, the flesh, and the devil to stir His stubborn children into the real freedom He provides to those who learn to live in the power of His truth and His ways.