If you take a selfie, what do you see?
Have you ever thought about how self-oriented our society is?
I’m not a huge fan of using the self-prefix because it often leans towards revealing our selfishness. For example, it is said you can self-teach yourself by turning to self-help in order to self-discover how you can become a self-made man or woman with a good self-image and high self-esteem. In this way, you will be a self-confident, self-sufficient, and self-reliant person who is self-aware, self-disciplined, and under self-control. Your self-actualization and self-realization along with your self-centered self-beliefs will give you self-assurance and not self-doubt. It is this type of self-reflection and self-interest that will allow you to become self-serving and not self-righteous, self-employed and not self-indulgent. You know, just believe in yourself always being sure In your self because if you’re true to yourself and you do you, then you can have your best life now … you only live once … if it’s true for yourself, it must be true.
There’s only one problem with all this mumbo jumbo. Can you guess what it is? You’re right if you said its your self. Most of today’s postmodern and new age philosophy is laced with subjective opinion over objective fact. And you guessed it – its philosophical “truths” begin and end with the self. The problem with the self is itself is not God. Left alone by itself, the self can have a form of godless denying the power thereof (2 Tim 3:5). This is why many new agers claim to be divine gods themselves.
But what did Jesus, who actually was God, say? Jesus said for one to truly find oneself, he or she must lose himself or herself for the sake of Christ (Mat 10:39). Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Luke 9:23).” If you lose your self for Christ by repenting of your sin and turning to follow Christ, Christ will save you from yourself. The self comes off the throne of your heart and Christ comes to sit up on it. The world’s wisdom is antithetical to the wisdom of God. True, God’s wisdom makes no sense to the world because Christ and the cross are considered folly, but to those whom would believe, their life — their self — will be made anew (1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 5:17). In fact, in heaven, they will be given a new name (Rev 2:17). I don’t claim to understand all these mysteries, but I do believe what the Word of God says is true. Losing yourself for Christ begins and ends with believing what God says is true about yourself and not what you say. Without Christ, we’re all aimless wanderers left to wonder what this life is all about. The good news is there is hope and his name is Jesus.
I don’t mean to bash all self-hyphenated words. We need a next generation who is self-motivated and self-driven. We need self-initiators: If something needs done, don’t ask for permission, go do it. We need self-feeders: Listen to the sermon podcast or watch the worship service livestream in your down-time, write or read that next great Christian novel, and keep praying, fasting, and reading your Bible app devotions. We need self-starters: Set some goals for yourself and start out to meet them. You can set spiritual goals, physical goals, financial goals, emotional goals, academic goals, etc.
Our culture and society is highly individualistic. I think that is why these self-words are so pervasive in pop-psychology and pop-culture. After all, if you can pull yourself up by your own bootstraps to become that self-made man or woman you’ve always wanted to be, don’t you deserve some credit for that?
Because you’ve been made in the image of God, perhaps you do deserve some. But the truth is without God, you wouldn’t even be here. And knowing that fact, I would say ultimately, you deserve none. God is our Creator and Sustainer. Without him, we can do nothing. What I hope for is that for some reading this post, he will become more than the One who made you and keeps you alive. He can become your Lord and Savior! Repent of your sin and yourself today and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Your works won’t save you, only His work on the cross.