Snapshots
Biblical Truth
OF
Self Absorbed
BIBLE REFERENCES:
Romans 2:8 (NIV) “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
Romans 12:3 (NIV) “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
Romans 12:16 (NIV) “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”
1 Corinthians 13:4, 5 (NIV) “Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
Galatians 5:25, 26 (NIV) “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
Philippians 2:3 (NIV) “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV) “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
APPLICATION:
Of course, self-confidence, self-assurance and composure under stress are good qualities to have in life. You probably won’t get that high paying job you are seeking if you are lacking in these. However, for some people, these qualities get piled on so thick they become self-absorbed with a super-inflated idea of themselves. You won’t find anyone as good as them! I have worked with people who were so self-confident and self-assured they wouldn’t listen to anyone else. They ended up getting everybody (including the company) in trouble.
Let’s face it. There will always be someone in life smarter, better looking and have more authority and influence than you – that is just the way life is. Get over it! Just do the best you can with what God gives you to work with and be thankful to him (and content!) for what he has given you.
The Apostle Paul teaches us that, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1Timothy 6:6). It took me a long time to figure this out, but now at retirement age I see it quite clearly. Sure, God wants us to do our very best at what He has called us to do, even to the extent of being an over-achiever. However, He never intended for us to spend all of our effort trying to be someone we are not. He just wants us to be the person He created us to be. If I had learned this lesson much earlier in life, I would have saved myself a lot of wasted effort. And, gaining that inflated idea of myself didn’t help me one bit.
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A PRAYER:
“God, forgive me for being so puffed up with myself. Help me to recognize that everything I am and everything I have I owe to you.”
SNAPSHOT:
