The Sin of Self
One of the worst prisons that a person can live in, is one they create for themselves.
When a person’s ego, fear, envy, and self conscious ,
is then combined with the deadly problems of;
∗ Lust of the flesh,
∗ Lust of the eyes, and the
∗Pride of life
It is a confinement that can’t be matched, because it is the incarceration based on the crime of;
The Sin of Self.
I did a long stretch of time in that penal institution.
I was busted for the sin of WYTOM.
It is a major personal injury crime of sin.
It is also a sin that one doesn’t even realized they’ve committed until;
They’ve actually been released from their prison!
That crime…is the sin of; WHAT YOU THINK OF ME.
This is not new.
Solomon, who had it all, wisdom, money, women, property, prestige…
He still suffered with the sin of self too.
☆ And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 4:4
Solomon cared what other people thought, and had.
Even though he was the wisest, richest and most powerful man in the world,
He still fell for the oldest trick in the enemies arsenal;
∗ The lust of the flesh,
∗ The lust of the eyes, and
∗ The pride of life.
He found himself caught up in the culture of the world.
He was worshipping their idols, and craving their ‘stuff’.
I know I fell into that trap too.
Be honest, sincerely honest, have you?
Does the stuff others have, give you a just a touch of envy ever?
Does what someone think of you, ever really matter to you?
☆ Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
• Galatians 1:10
I know I did that. I did it a lot. I really wanted the approval of others.
It was important for me to ‘look good’ and appear like a winner on the outside.
Because I hated what I knew about me and felt like a total loser on the inside.
It was very important for me to have others think of me as a success.
Does any of this sound familiar to you?
If you are reading this, I am confident that you know in your gut that the sin of self that we live in,
Can create a critical mindset within ourselves,
that will critically judge everything about ourselves.
So that in our self based thinking, we assume others will have that same mindset about us.
Prompting us to do everything to escape judgement of what you think of us.
But something happened one day as I was reading the scriptures.
What I read pierced my heart and made
How I looked not even close to important.
– AS –
How I BELIEVED, well…because THAT became very important
I read this verse.
☆ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.
It is the Lord who judges me.
• 1Corinthians 4:3-5
I realized the sin of self had blinded me to that fact that I was in a cell of solitary confinement within a prison of my own making.
It had kept away any knowledge that the lock up was of my own fault…It always everyone else, and I was a victim.
It wasn’t until I was given the keys for me to be released from custody,
That I even realized I was actually IN IT!
But I was pardoned from the crime I committed of WYTOM.
It no longer mattered what others had, or thought about me.
So, the people who judged of me,
Or the comments I would hear from time to time about my
‘dependence on some guy in the sky’
Stopped bothering me, and I stopped behaving differently because of them.
☆ Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
• Matthew 5:10-12
BUT…
I found removing the care of what others ‘think’ about me, created a sin of self of it’s own.
I didn’t care what others thought, so I just became plain uncaring in general.
You know those people…if it isn’t important to them, then it should not be important to anyone.
Ya…I became that guy for a very short time.
If someone close to me told me that I did or said something that they thought wrong, misguided, disagreed or just anything negative in any way…
I just didn’t care what they thought.
But again…something happened. The Word pierced my heart AGAIN as I read the scriptures.
☆ Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.
• Hebrews 13:7
And then it hit me;
I should NEVER care what others think about me.
I should ALWAYS care of what people REMEMBER about me!
So, in that epiphany of that realization, it was immediately made clear to me;
I was not going to care about what people thought about me TODAY – but
I was going to care about what people remembered about me for the rest their lives.
– What kind of love from us will they never forget?
– What kind of character did we have to look back on?
– What kind of hope within us will they be able to reminisce?
– What kind of faith did we live out to have fixed in their minds?
– What kind of example of Christ will we be for them to remember?
☆ The memory of the righteous is blessed;
But the name of the wicked shall rot.
• Proverbs10:7
So it is clear, now as I look back on the people who left the biggest impressions on me;
They were the people who were not living in the sin of self.
They were the biggest givers. They were the most compassionate.
They never cared what I thought about them. – But
I’ll never forget what I remember about them.
What legacy are YOU leaving behind?
What will people REMEMBER the most about YOU?
(Or, what SHOULD they be remembering about you?)
I love you guys!
