Translate this site into your preferred language, look for our Google translator in our home page: diningwithjesus.net
Traduce este sitio en tu idioma preferido, busca nuestro traductor de Google en nuestra página de inicio ve a: diningwithjesus.net
Pastor Chris White says to all of you: HELLO MY FRIENDS. May the Lord bless you today.
HOLA MIS AMIGOS. Que el Señor los bendiga.
Every
human being is prone to self-pity. We are born self-centered, with a powerful drive to protect our egos and our
“rights.” When we decide that life has not treated us as we have the right to
be treated, self-pity is the result. Self-pity causes us to sulk and obsess
over our hurts, real or perceived. At the heart of self-pity is a disagreement
with God over how life—and He—has treated us.
The biggest clue that self-pity is not of God is the word self. Any
time we are focused on ourselves, other than for self-examination leading to repentance (1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5), we are in the territory of the flesh. Our sinful flesh
is the enemy of the Spirit (Romans 8:7). When we surrender our lives to Christ, our old nature is
crucified with Him (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:6). The self-ish, sinful part of our lives no
longer needs to dominate. When Self is dominant, God is not. We, in effect,
have become our own god. C. S. Lewis put it this way: “The moment you have a
self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first—wanting to be the
center—wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan: and that was the
sin he taught the human race.”
The self-sins do not die easily. They are more difficult to detect than obvious
sins, such as immorality and drunkenness (Galatians 5:19–20), because we often consider them friends. Self-confidence,
self-seeking, self-admiration, self-indulgence, self-absorption, and self-love
are all symptoms of a fleshly nature that has not yet been fully surrendered to
Jesus. It was a self-sin that brought Samson down (Judges 16:20) and a self-sin that caused the rich young ruler to turn
away from Jesus (Matthew 19:21–22). The self-sins, including self-pity, attest to the truth
that, regardless of what we say with our lips, our highest worship is often
reserved for ourselves (Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8).
A prime example of self-pity is found in an episode of King Ahab’s wicked life.
Ahab coveted a vineyard belonging to Naboth and wanted to buy it; when Naboth
refused to sell, “Ahab went home, sullen and angry. . . . He lay on his bed
sulking and refused to eat” (1 Kings 21:4). Imagine, a king pouting in his palace! So full of
himself was the king that he was only made happy again when his wife, the evil
Jezebel, set in motion a plan to have Naboth murdered (1 Kings 21:15–16). Self-pity is never good.
When we indulge in self-pity, we have elevated our importance in our own
eyes. Romans
12:3 says, “Do not think
of yourself more highly than you ought.” We are thinking too highly of
ourselves when we allow life’s hurts and injustices to dictate our emotional
state. Bitterness can quickly override the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22) that should be dominating the life of every
believer. First Thessalonians 5:18–19 tells us that we are not to “quench the Holy Spirit.” Instead, we are to give thanks in everything. It is
impossible to give thanks while clinging to self-pity, because, by definition,
a self-indulgent attitude is not focused on gratitude to others. Self-pity
cannot be thankful at all for what God has allowed.
Rejecting the impulse to feel sorry for ourselves is not easy. Life provides
many opportunities to experience rejection, injustice, and the cruelty of man.
Our natural response is self-protection, which often results in self-pity.
However, we can choose to “walk by the Spirit, and . . . not gratify the
desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). We can refuse to indulge our sin natures and choose
instead a grateful heart, trusting that “it is God who works in you to will and
to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). We can look at every opportunity to indulge in self-pity
as chance to defeat that old nature. We can choose instead to trust that God
“will work everything for the good, to those who love God and are called
according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Thank you to Got Questions Ministries
© Copyright 2002-2019 Got Questions Ministries. All rights reserved.
You must be logged in to post a comment.