For by the grace given me I say to
every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but
rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of
faith God has given you. –Romans 12:3
Stop for a minute and take a good look at the self of
man. Man hates himself as just man! Self in Adam and Eve was attracted to
the tree offering Godlikeness with its lists of what to do and not do. It was
not life, but bondage. True Life was a few feet away in a
completely different tree; no serpent was tempting Adam and Eve to
eat of that tree. Man left the Garden still hoping to fulfill the dream
of being God; however, he has failed miserably. I have yet to see a monkey or a
dog dressed in human clothing that looks anything short of inane. Similarly,
man is man, and every attempt to cover himself with something more Godlike
just leaves man looking stupid. Man may try to appear more
tolerable by covering himself with knowledge, possessions, or power, and he
might even surround himself with worshippers. Man can even use his own
self-hatred by comforting himself with the feelings of humility, hopelessness,
humanity, and victimization. From running inconsistent campaigns for the highest
offices to committing suicide, man's actions prove that he has utterly failed at
playing God.
We have become a society of selfish Christians--and I
am not excluding myself--wrapping our lives around ourselves and bedeviled by
how every action of others or ours affects our self-lives.We cannot
tell the truth because someone may not like us, but we do not like ourselves
when we lie. We desire others to meet our needs, yet when similar requirements
are placed on us, we run, for to meet others' needs might necessitate neglecting
our own. We change the teaching of Christ to fit ourselves and only end up
changing ourselves into something that is not a good fit.
Now the good news: Nothing is naturally against the
believer. There is not a single thing that goes wrong in our lives. There is
nothing pitted against us. Life is not a meaningless, senseless string of
disturbing occurrences. Life is not an endless exam administered by a demanding
principal. Life is not an endurance test. Life is not accumulating as much
knowledge as possible. Life is not staring at our spouses with heart-shaped
eyeballs. Life is not being perfect parents, employees, or pastors. Life is
meaningless and boring when it wraps itself around ourselves, draws our
attention to ourselves, and leaves us wondering at our condition. Why? True life
is Jesus and Life obsessed not on us but on the Father in
Heaven.
All things are tools in God's hand, employed by Him
in His ministry to us and in revealing His glory. John 12:28,
“’Father, glorify Thy name.’ There came therefore a voice out of heaven: 'I have
both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'" Events and happenings are
not the elements of life; rather, they are the elements that drive us to Life
(Jesus). Nothing is bad if it drives us to Life. This
awareness does not come through understanding, but by
revelation.Anything and everything that moves us near Life is
good.
Who could be a better instructor on SELF than the
Apostle Paul. He had quite an impressive personal resume…particularly, as the
world considers things, coming into Christianity. And God brought him to a
point he could simply tell us: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you
ought…” Wow! And then he added, “…in accordance with the measure
of faith God has given you.” Oh, my
goodness…where did we “get” that faith???
SELF can be a destructive person, but Michael points
out that actually “all things are tools in God’s hand, employed by Him in His
ministry to us and in revealing His glory. All is an element that is intended
to drive us to Life (Jesus) and away from Self. May God reveal all this to
us!
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