The Self Life --John Eldredge
(John makes some really good points today. For many of us, we still strive to please God, to force our obedience out of our will power, to manage our sin rather than surrender it all to Jesus. The truth is, as believers, we no longer "have" to obey, we "get" to obey! We are new creations, purchased by the blood of Christ and we no longer live, but rather He lives in us. The old is gone and the new has come. Romans 12 sums up the life of a believer: We are Separate from the world, Surrendered to God, Sober in self-assessment, we Serve each other in love and we Supernaturally respond to evil with good. When we live a life like this, our fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We are saved by Grace alone, through Faith alone, by Christ alone, for God's Glory alone, by the power of God's Word and Holy Spirit alone....so that, we can do the works that He prepared in advance for us. The works that are a joy to our heart, a privilege and honor, a dream that we never knew we even had, or, more likely, that we buried in the back of our mind as something we ought never attempt because it is so unlikely to happen. I sense that most of us have something we knew was a special task, anointing or desire from the time we were a child. And yet, the pressure cooker of this world pushed that dream so far back we can hardly remember it. This a ploy of Satan to keep us from ever pursuing the gifts God revealed to us so long ago. God loves to lavish us with His gifts, with the things that bring joy to our hearts, fulfillment to our Spirit, and, ultimately, Glory to Himself. Self is not our enemy, we are all image bearers of our Lord God Almighty, as unique as our own fingerprints, and needed as part of God's glorious body. Focus a bit on yourself today, consider the things that you want, that you desire, that you find joy in doing. If these things don't take the place of God and you allow Him to give them or take them as He wishes, you are receiving them as a gift from a loving Father who wants to bless you in every way! Read on for John's thoughts...MH)
The Self Life
Talking about the Self Life is a difficult thing to do, because there are teachings that sound very righteous and holy, which basically say that anything connected to your humanity is the Self Life and must be crucified. Any desire, any dream, even your own gifting is something essentially contaminated and needs to be killed to get on with your Christian life. I’ve seen this interpretation cripple many earnest followers of Jesus, and I’ve seen it turn away many possible seekers. That is not how God feels about your humanity.
Why would your Father say things like he will give you the desires of your heart, and please protect your heart because it is the spring of life in you, if what he wanted you to do was kill your desires and dreams? Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4 NIV) Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Prov 4:23 NIV) In the chapter on kindness we saw that Jesus never said we’re supposed to hate ourselves, for how can we love our neighbor as ourselves if we hate ourselves? (The way you treat your heart is the way you will treat everyone else’s.) Jesus always handled broken and misguided people graciously and with a view towards their restoration. The Incarnation itself ought to remove every doubt that God loves and cherishes your humanity, because he took on humanity himself in order to redeem yours. Your personhood is not the problem; the issue is who is at the helm? What is fueling and motivating your faculties? Who gets to drive the bus?
When we let Self rule, it obscures our awareness of God, thwarts our ability to receive him. And the Self Life is a crushing burden to bear.
For the Self was never meant to be master, and when we make it so, we fall prey to a thousand heartaches. Countless pressures, to begin with, because life is now up to us; we are masters of our own destiny, and that's a crushing load.
The Self is a mighty poor Savior and an utterly empty god.
Which is why being rid of the exalted Self is such a glorious relief.
--John Eldredge