Self

“I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn. 

(Psalm 75:4, NKJV)

Loving and valuing one self is an important attitude in life.  Often depending on one’s upbringing, elements of self-worth and self-love are either minimized, emphasized and at best nurtured in a healthy way.  How we see ourselves influences how we relate with others, either as worthy or unworthy.  This is an internal dialogue rarely brought in the open but most times, observable without the individual’s awareness.  It is an element of what is inside being acted upon on the outside.  The internal narrative that we tell ourselves and believe about ourselves is stronger than what others tell us and so the importance of healthy self-appreciation.

Our reference verse touches on personality dispositions indicated as boastful and others wicked.  To the individual, they might not know that this is how they come across to others yet that is how others experience them.  The issue of pride is usually in all of us and it is healthy to have a sense of self-appreciation which works as guard rails in life interactions.  Pride by itself is not usually visible, it is however noticeable through the actions that others observe..  Someone referred to pride, the “disease of me”, making it an individual’s heart issue..  It is all about me and could lead to a craving to be seen and treated as better than others.  In other instances, it manifests as a continual pursuit of proving all others wrong, suggesting that we are the only ones who are correct.  This internal narrative becomes a motivating force that determines how we treat and relate to others.  God knows that pride is a source of many evils and so He reminds us through the book of James, that He (God) detests the proud (James 4:6).  That to me suggests that when we stand in pride, we are positioning ourselves against God for He does not entertain it.  We might not be so aware that we come across as boastful, but beloved when the Holy Spirit highlights this attitude in our hearts, may we be quick to repent.  We cannot withstand God when He chooses to resist us due to our pride.  There is however one chance to be boastful, not in our wisdom, not in our might, not in our riches but in the knowledge and understanding of God who works out justice, righteousness and love on earth.  (Jeremiah 9:23-24).  Beloved, knowing God as He is and understanding His ways is what gives Him delight and that is the only premise of our boasting, not on our own achievement or status but a boast on who our God is, the great and mighty one.  In thinking of this as the reason for a boast, I find it humbling, for when we get to see God as God, we see ourselves as we are, realize our frailty and all we can do is bow to His purpose and will.  All other elements of pride are as a result of not knowing God for who He truly is. 

Living in the world as is, the bible reminds us of three things that drive our self-disposition:  the desires of our flesh;  the desires of our eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).  These are the motivating forces of the world and the verse concludes by saying, they are not from the Father but from the world.  A self-reflection of how our desires have driven us to doing things helps us to know if we are operating in self-pride of in the knowledge of God.  Beloved, I do not write this as one who has overcome but as one who struggles with the same and so I challenge myself too.  Jesus in teaching spoke of what comes out of a person, that is the internal dialogue in a person which leads to thoughts, actions and characteristics often of a defiled heart.  The point being emphasized is that all these evil things come from within (Mark 7:15-23).  The state of our hearts though not verbalized is seen in our actions.  May we pray as David did, for a clean heart accepting that left to ourselves, we shall only provoke God’s resistance.

Thoughts:

What is the state of your heart?

For what reasons do you do what you do?

How do you nurture a clean heart to God?