Pride.
Been wrestling with this one...and this is straight out of my journal.
Pride is the love of self, and in one sense a follower of Jesus is called to have a sense of pride. Not in the evil 'I am better than everyone' sense, but in the 'I am special, unique, and wonderfully made sense'. What do I mean then? Another way of saying Love your neighbour as yourself is to say Love yourself as your neighbour. That doesn't mean your pulse is supposed to quicken every time you look in the miror any more than its supposed to quicken every time your neighbour passes the window. It means simply that the ability to work for your own good despite all the not-so-good things you know about yourself is closely related to the ability to work for your neighbours good dispite all the not-so-good things you know about him.
It also means that just as in this sense love of self and love of neighbour go hand in hand, so do dislike of self and dislike of neighbour.
examples?
1. The more I don't like my neighbour, the more I'm apt or likely to not like myself for disliking him and him for making me dislike myself and so goes the terrible downward spiral.
2. I am continually tempted to take out on my neighbour the dislike I feel for myself, just the same way if I smack my head on a cupboard door I'm very apt to kick the first cat, child, or chair unlucky enought to catch my swelling eye. (what is it about this that makes me giggle????)
The love of self or pride is a sin when, it does not lead you to share with others the self you love. What self am I talking about? The self that has been made in the image of Jesus, the self that is becoming more and more like Jesus as you choose to follow Him...and the parts of ourselves that live in darkness...you know, the parts we all try desperately to hide, but the very parts the desperately need to be shared.
When you choose not to share your 'self', it leads you to keep your self in perpetual safe-deposit.
You not only don't gain anything that way but you actuallybecome less and less everyday.
just thoughts amidst tears.
2 comments:
Just read this today...so fits...and so is where I hear the Lord calling me to:
Lord Jesus, failure and disappointment sometimes lead me to despair. I hide behind my pride and self-pity, withdrawing from you and others. Give me the hope I need and help me never to be afraid to begin again.
Anonymous
Love,what if you don't love yourself??That for me is a most disturbing verse in the bible to love others as you love yourself.I don't have alot of self love and I tend not to love others as I should even though I want to.I cry to God to change me but he doesn't.Why?I know he loves me but I can't figure out why? I know i'm hopeless. And I really don't think He'll ever change me. I really want to love like Jesus.
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