S.E.L.F.

 Lately I have become more aware of the fact that we live in a culture of self. In fact our whole lives we are encouraged, whether directly  or indirectly, to focus on self. We are taught from a young age to be  self-reliant, self-made, self-motivated, and here’s the stupidest of all,  self-helping. I have come to understand that this “self” centered mindset is the very poison that has caused much of the moral decline in America. I know that in my own life self is at the center of every poor choice I have ever made.
 

Years ago my wife’s father taught me an  acronym for S.E.L.F. that brings you right to the heart of the word,  Selfish Egotistic Lying Fool. That pretty much sums it up doesn’t it?

We as  humans are inherently selfish. One of the first words babies learn to say is,  "mine!"  From the minute we are born our world is centered on our comfort and  needs.  Until we learn to vocalize them we kick and scream until we get the attention we crave.  That's why we feel somewhat entitled to have our needs met  instantly, and if they re not, well the kicking and screaming rears its ugly head.  We lie to ourselves and convince ourselves that we are entitled to an  easy and comfortable life.  This is in contrst to the words of Jesus who said  very clerly, "in this world you will trouble."  Slowly our selfishness causes  our egos to swell and we continue to the lie, calling it the power of positive confession.  The more we seek to fill our lives with our desires, the emptier we become.  Eventually in the eyes of God, we become fools.

 Self has been at the center of  every sin I have ever committed. Self has driven me from the presence of God  time and time again. It was self that kept me in the bottle for years. Self nearly destroyed my marriage and self built fortresses of resentment in my heart  toward the people I love.

Every time I tried to destroy self, I’d look over my  shoulder and there it was chasing me down. And to be honest it was a lot like  when my grandson runs from me and screams, “you can’t get me pop-pop,” knowing  that he really wants to be gotten. I was trying to get away from self through the path of self-will, which I have come to understand is really the road to self-destruction. It wasn’t until I came to the realization that only God could  set me free from self that I was ever able to finally experience true joy and freedom. It’s like the Apostle Paul states in Romans chapter 7,  “who will rescue me from this wretched body of death? Praise be to God, Jesus  Christ my Lord.”

All of our lives are unmanageable without God. We need a power greater than “self” to rescue us. We need to become God-reliant, God-made, God-motivated and mostly we need God’s help to overcome  those things that seem to control us no matter how hard we’ve tried gain control over them. But here’s the greatest thing of all that I have come to understand –  We can't do it but, God can and will if He is sought.

God Bless