Here's a little change of direction.
The Bible is full of paradoxes...for example, if anyone wishes to save his life he must lose it. Self image falls into this same camp. Most of us have been taught that we need to feel good about ourselves in order to be healthy as human beings. Schools have adopted this policy and embraced "whole language" approaches to learning to read, in part, because a child "feels like" she's making progress. Phonics, which truly works, isn't always much fun at first...but in time, the child who masters this "code" learns to read well .
Another place it shows up concerns how busy we Christians get trying to tell ourselves how "great" we are in Jesus. The funny thing is that the more we try to make ourselves feel good about who we are in Christ, etc., the more it reinforces how crummy we feel. I mean really, who needs assurance that he's OK except someone who isn't. If you've spent a lot of time repeating affirmations about your goodness, consider that you might just be making things worse! Galatians 6:3 tells us that "if anyone thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself." What if the paradox is that the way to feeling good about yourself is to admit you are nothing? Preposterous! Nonetheless, the verse must mean something.
I can only tell you of my experience. The more I remind myself of my own insignificance in the grand scheme of things...the more I appreciate all the small ways God chooses to use me. If you start with nothing, then everything else is gravy! We humans are pretty busy (since the Garden) trying to make ourselves out to be God. What if we just admitted that we were nothing and left it to God to make us something? My suspicion is that you'd be shocked at the sweetness God would show you who are "nothing." I mean, seriously, doesn't God say He's going to raise up the humble and lay low the proud? If you want to feel great about yourself and your life...start wrestling with what Gal. 6:3 might mean if you took it to heart as a starting place (God will take care of the finishing place!).
God bless,
Fred
-return to the homepage to learn about our Writing Tips and ideas on the subject
|