I am convinced that selfishness is counter-productive.
When a person is selfish, they put so much effort into controlling their environment, and the people in it, that the satisfaction they receive from accomplishing their selfish goal is greatly suprassed by the pain, effort, and/or stress involved in trying to make things happen the way they want. Rather than trying self-control on for size, they rather attempt to control or manipuluate others (especially those closest to them) so that they can be comfortable. Rather than setting aside expectations and ambitions for the sake of relationship, they cling to those things, while making others miserable. They thereby are placed under more stress, as they end up trying to control numerous other individuals, as well as events, rather than just themselves and their own reactions to their environment. They leave themselves free to react however they please, and usually that includes bad attitudes, anger, complaining, lack of contentment, and other forms of negativity. This could all be avoided if they tried to show a little self-control and God-dependance rather than others-control and self or circumstance-dependance.

I've been thinking about the state of the world and its great need for change and for someone to make a difference. I want to be that person who makes a difference. I want to preach sermons and write books that present the REAL gospel and the REAL Christian grace-walk. I want to be involved in mass-change throughout the world. But each time I think like this, I am smitten inside.
Is it pessimistic to believe that no single person will change the world? To define terms - "person" does not include any "person" of the Godhead. "Change" means to turn everyone's (or at least the majority of people) heart and life to Christ.
I do not believe this is a pessimistic outlook. It could come from a pessimistic heart, and it could be seen as pessimistic, but i think there is a better way of looking at it.
What is God's will for the church? For one member to do all the work and stand out among the rest? No. Rather God's will is for it to work together as one complete, healthy body. Not to say that there are some gifts that do stand out. Some gifts are meant to not be seen. By nature, that is how they work best for the body of Christ. Also, there are parts that MUST be seen in order to work best. God made the church to work as a unit made up of many parts. However, for those who have those gifts that are meant to stand out, they must be cautious. With every strength, there is the potential for weekness. Those who stand out should give greater heed to be humble. It is natural for him to distract from Christ. It is natural for the hearers to give heed to him rather than the Word, almost setting him us as an idol to which one can look and find God and spirituality.
Also, to expect one's self to single-handedly change the world, or even to change a city, is to go against God's established order. Paul went from city to city making churches so that those churches could win the souls in that area (which obviously meant he had to win souls to Christ!). He had a huge influence for the Kingdom, however his actions lead toward the establishment of local bodies that would work together to grow together in Christ and win their society to Christ. And our efforts should not be sourced in individuality, but they should rather follow God's intention of colaboration and relationship within the family of Christ. This is not to say that one's passion for Christ should be quenched to the point that he does not act unless others are willing to as well, like some sort of "Groupon" method of ministry, especially in the case where one's local church does not share a similar passion. But rather, this is a plea to those that want to change to world to first spread their vivacious plague to nearby relatives in Christ. If the world will change, it will start in the Church. It is a great failure among me and my peers to think, like Elijah, that we alone truly work for God and need to take the responsibility upon ourselves to change the world with our "unique" and "revived" views, ministerial methods and ideology. Do we seek to be the next Spurgeon or Moody, standing out among the rest? Let us rather seek to take our place in the glorious Body of Christ, that we might truly glorify God and bring people to Him rather than to bring them to our ideas and proposed culture. Let us bring people to the person of Christ rather than a series of ethics and ideas.

As I follow Christ
Why preach unless you feel you have something good to say of God? Then, if you have something good to say of God, could you then not say, “Follow me as I follow Christ”? If you cannot say this, then you cannot preach. Preaching is providing something for listeners to follow. And we preach as we are lead of the Spirit. We preach for the edification of the people and the conversion of souls. If this is our aim, then as we preach, we can say “Follow me as I follow Christ.” I don’t think you have to “have it all together” in order to say thus. Paul sure didn’t think he deserved to preach. But he could still say “follow me as I follow Christ.” And I think only the weakest and humblest can speak thus. It does not say much about ourselves. It says much about our Christ. It does not mean we think much of our selves or our “spirituality.” Rather it means we think much of the power of Christ and the Spirit that He has left with us. And this is not a proud statement. The nature of this is founded in an adoration of God. “As I follow Christ” implies that the power within me is not my own. It implies that I know that I am still in need of Christ’s leadership, and that I know I haven’t got it all together. Thus, this statement cannot be made by those who “have it all together.” Truly, no man or woman does. Otherwise they cease to exist under grace.