Good Wednesday Morning Friends,
Who’s determining how big you are ALLOWED to smile these days?
Do you have a strong desire to like yourself that keeps getting snuffed out by the unfavorable opinions of others? Do you want to love yourself as God loves you… and can’t seem to get past an overpowering force of negativity towards yourself? When you look in the mirror, do you see a beautiful working progress or a good for nothing screw up?
Romans 8:1-4
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”
Todays blog is written to all the people who can’t seem to fall in love with themselves as they should!
Yes, I did say that! And don’t let anyone tell you any different. God is crazy about you and he needs you to be crazy about you too! Because, until you LOVE yourself, you will never ENJOY the kind of life quality Jesus purchased for you at the cross.
John 10:10
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”
There is a VERY big difference between conviction and condemnation. God uses conviction to lead us out of sin. He shows us what we are doing wrong while handing us the mercy and grace we will need to make positive changes. God is patient and God never BEATS his kids like an abusive parent. God doesn’t put a guilt trip on his children… He never holds a grudge over his children to make us SUFFER for what we have or haven’t done. He SUFFERED FOR US! He paid for every one of our sins and he loves it that you and I can come to his throne and be WASHED clean from head to toe IN AN INSTANT!
So NOW there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who BELONG TO JESUS CHRIST!
Are you having a hard time liking yourself because of a POOR SELF IMAGE? Is condemnation dominating your mind in such a way that you are not able to HAVE AND ENJOY LIFE, AND HAVE IT IN ABUNDANCE (to the FULL, till it OVERFLOWS)? Do you find that every time you want to smile and celebrate your blessings or you want to be bold and optimistic about your future, there is a VOICE OF JUDGMENT whipping you down into a cold dark corner?
This kind of emotional abuse is a work of condemnation and it’s STEALING, KILLING, and DESTROYING your promised quality of life!
So rise above condemnation today my friends! Break the chains of abuse… shake off every guilt trip… come out from under the mean spirited powers of a grudge… and don’t feel one ounce of apology for the JOY AND FREEDOM you experience because of Jesus Christ! Don’t ever forget that HE SUFFERED FOR YOU… so that you DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER. He promises both of us an ABUNDANT KIND OF LIFE… and he loves it when his children walk in that ABUNDANT KIND OF LIFE every single day of our lives!
I hope todays blog adds tremendous value to your amazing lives. Spend some time praying through this blog… read it 7 times… and don’t let yourself walk away from this teaching until you have the freedom it offers! We love you and we are praying so much for you! Thanks for being our friends… have a beautiful day!
Ps: Don’t forget about church tonight at Destiny Family Center… 7pm! Come in person or watch it LIVE! Hope to see you there…
Self-love is a tricky subject for the Christian. There is a sense in which we should certainly value ourselves as humans, the jewel of God’s Creation. That is a healthy self-love that values ourselves enough to run to Christ for our needed redemption.
Some dangers include:
1.) Self worshippers pervert the gospel (See Robert Schuller). (Romans 2:8)
2.) Self worshippers cannot practice Biblical forgiveness. (Matthew 6:14-15)
3.) Self worshippers cannot accept or understand suffering. (Philippians 3:10)
But there is also the danger of sinful self-love, as the actual “lover of self” is condemmed in Scripture as a sign of last days apostasy (2 Timothy 3:2). The pop-psychologists of our day blame many of our problems on “low self-esteem” or “self-worth”. The fact is, ironically, that these issues are caused by just the opposite, self-absorption (ie. “Pride”). The Christian worldview sees that there is really nothing in himself worth esteeming, and the key to redemption is to get our eyes off of ourselves and onto Christ. There and only there can proper self-love be understood.
Consider the words of these saints:
“I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6)
“And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 20:43-44)
“And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”” (Isaiah 6:5)
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh….Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”>/i> (Romans 7:18-24)
Our modern day pastoral counselors would probably have recommended these saints for counseling. They seem to have low self-esteem and poor emotional health. Why don’t they know how important they are to God? Some modern psychological theologian needs to convince these poor souls of their self-worth, correct?
In actuality, these men saw the face of perfection, and had a proper view of themselves. They saw their wickedness and their unworthiness, and turned to Christ. They understood the Biblical gospel. The Christian life is one of self-denial, not self esteem.
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”” (Matthew 16:24)
This message is not what people want to hear today. Yet Jesus was adamant, stating anyone who would not do so “cannot be my disciple”. (Luke 14:26-27).
See the post Your Miserable Condition
I’ll close this log commentary with a quote from J.C. Ryle’s Commentary on Luke”
“Humility may well be called the queen of the Christian graces. To know our own sinfulness and weakness and to feel our need of Christ is the start of saving religion.
Humility is a grace which has always been a distinguishing feature in the character of the holiest saints in every age. Abraham and Moses and Job and David and Daniel and Paul were all eminently humble men.
Above all, humility is a grace within the reach of every true Christian. All converted people should work to adorn with humility the doctrine they profess. If they can do nothing else, they can strive to be humble.
Do you want to know the root and spring of humility? One word describes it. The root of humility is right knowledge.
The person who really knows himself and his own heart, who knows God and his infinite majesty and holiness, who knows Christ and the price at which he was redeemed, that person will never be a proud person.
He will count himself, like Jacob, unworthy of the least of all God’s mercies. He will say of himself, like Job, “I am unworthy.” He will cry, like Paul, “I am the worst of sinners” He will consider others better than himself (Philippians 2:3).
Ignorance–nothing but sheer ignorance, ignorance of self, of God, and of Christ–is the real secret of pride.
From that miserable self-ignorance may we daily pray to be delivered. The wise person knows himself and will find nothing within to make him proud.”
Well spoken Puritan Lad… if I had the time and attention span of my blogger audience, I would have added a BALANCE section to that post with many of your angles.
I wrote todays blog with a strong assumption that most of my audience lives a very devoted Christian life. From many of the regular comments, I can see that most of my friends are quick to repent of their sins… they are lovers of prayer and the Bible… they love the church… and they are dedicated to Gods service.
My burden this morning was for all the people out there who are not able to forgive themselves after God has already forgiven them… and for those who cannot silence the voice of judgement hurling at them from unforgiving humans.
Humility is a supreme force of the universe… and I, just like you my dear puritan lad pursue a humble and broken heart before our Lord.
Yet far too many believers stay on the floor in brokeness and in a state of self loathing… and they are never able to RISE from the ashes of their failures to “value themselves as the jewel of Gods creation”– as you so eloquently articulated in your opening statement.
From my experiences with so many Christians in todays world… many of them NEED to hear about how CLEAN and BEAUTIFUL they really are as they walk in the grace of our Lord.
Thanks for the balance you brought with you comments my friend! Very well stated!
An excellent discussion.
One of my favorite books is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. This book was a tool in me realizing how much God loves me and that I must love myself because He loves me. He loves me despite myself. I live to Honor God each day and there are times I fall short, but instead of beating myself up, like I used to, I repent and draw closer to God.
A lot of people take love of self as conceit, but I don’t love myself in the sense of the way people of this world loves themselves. I love the woman I am becoming each day in Christ. I love the love that flows out of me that was bound up for years.
Chuck, thank you for your blog this morning! I once lived a life with the views of the puritan lad. I felt I was unworthy of God’s love and forgiveness. I would never be good enough for God’s Grace but then God reminded me that I was made in His image and was worthy of forgiveness all I had to do was ask in faith and it would be done. Only then was I able to humbly bow down before him and ask him to forgive me.
I have been delivered from drug addiction, physical, mental and emotional abuse through the Grace of God. A little over four monthes ago I believed that I deserved every negative label, every busted lip, every punch, I even believed I deserved to have my skull fractured at one point because I was unworthy of anything good in my life. I had even quit going to church because I didn’t deserve to sit in the presence of God. But through all that God was preparing me to work for Him. I can now love myself as a beautiful person who is able to forgive herself for allowing the devil to lead me down that path of self loathing and self destruction. I can now help others find God’s infinate grace and forgiveness. I can help those who are now where I was. It took 61 hours of being with My Lord and Savior alone for me to see who I really was and man, I really like the person God made me to be and I thank him everyday.
Maybe I misunderstood your message, puritan lad, but I will never go back to the person who can’t love herself. If I do I will surely perish.
Well spoken Lisa. Your blog was great Pastor Chuck
Lisa.
I don’t think you misunderstood my message, but perhaps the application of that message. As Chuck suggested, there is a needed balance in the area of Self-love. Self-value is important in the area of redemption, but there is a sinful “self-love” that is deadly, and has really become the popular religion of our day. You wrote, “I once lived a life with the views of the puritan lad. I felt I was unworthy of God’s love and forgiveness. I would never be good enough for God’s Grace”. In this you are correct. We are unworthy and will never be good enough for God’s grace. That’s what makes Amazing Grace so amazing, the fact that we are unworthy. Once we realize our own unworthiness, we are never so close to the Kingdom of God.
You then wrote, “then God reminded me that I was made in His image and was worthy of forgiveness all I had to do was ask in faith and it would be done.” The idea that we are “worthy of forgivenness” is a slippery slope, because we are not worthy of forgiveness. Again, that’s why grace is required. If we were worthy of forgiveness, then grace would no longer be grace, but rather more like a wage that is owed to us. However, “It is a gift of God, lest any man should boast”. Once we start down the path of our own worthiness, we can get into all kinds of trouble. For one, we begin to take our own sins too lightly. While we are justified by faith alone, we must never look at our sin lightly. We also begin to focus more on other people’s sins rather than our own, and thus cannot forgive others, which is something God requires of us. When we focus on our own “worthiness”, then we have no way to understand trials and sufferings which are all promised to us as Christians. We can’t understand why the world hates us, why we get sick, why children die? Why does God allow this to “worthy” people? (You’ll notice that very few people ever ask “Why does God allow me to be healthy? Why does He allow me to live?”) We just assume that God owes us these things when we really don’t want what God owes us.
In short, the reason why God forgave you, me, or anyone was not because we are worthy or in any way deserving of His favor, but because he chose to do so in His wonderful Love.
When we properly understand ourselves and the Holiness of God, we will not be “lovers of self”, nor will we be “haters of self” (which is what you appear to have been). We will have a proper view of ourselves (and get our eyes off of ourselves) where Christ alone may shine through our idol of self. We will be able to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him as true disciples.
Self is a dangerous and deceptive idol that seeks to place itself on the throne of the God of Heaven and tell Him “My Council shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure”. Self must be abased (John 3:30), denied (Matthew 16:24), and put to death (Romans 8:13). Lovers of self cannot be lovers of God, for no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).
“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, …” (Romans 6:6-8)
For I know that, in my flesh, there dwells no good thing.