Self part 4
Thinking about self is really thinking about Jesus. Because He is our true self. And thinking about Jesus is thinking about love. Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. So let's change "self-centered" to "Christ-centered." Which, of course, means people centered. Because whatever we do unto the least of them we do unto the King. How we treat each other (and ourselves) is how we treat our God. And really, it is a reflection of how we believe He treats us. Because our actions flow from our beliefs. If we believe we serve a distant angry God... we'll be distant and angry. Crushed under the weight of sin--unbelief. We'll be self-centered because we'll be scared of what God is going to do to us. When, in fact, the only thing God has ever done to us is love the hell out of us. Look at one of my most favorite memory verses, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11). Our actions flow from what we believe. What we think in our hearts (which, by the way, is why its important to bring our thoughts under captivity... to set our affection on things above and not on the earth) is what manifests in our lives. Thinking about ourselves all the time is a receipe for disaster. Always trying to get, get, get is the best way to end up with nothing. The more you tighten your grip, the more things slip through your fingers. I'm trying to say its more blessed to give than receive. Even though you can only give what you HAVE received. So receiving comes first, but that's not the whole deal. We receive so that we can give. Jesus came that we might have life, and that more abundantly. And now that we have that, we can live out of our abundance. We can give what we've got, because we know what we've got. We don't have to be afraid that God's going to get us... because 2,000 years ago on the cross He got us! Not in a negative way, but in the best way possible. He got us in our hearts. Because He gave us HIS heart. He lives in our hearts. His heart beats with love in our chests. What's inside comes out, right? Or, rather, what you believe is inside comes out. It has to. Its too big to stay inside. So when we think about self... we really ought to be thinking about each other. Many members of the same body. I always say this about my kid, "He is me." Because he came from me. He's mine. But what if we saw everybody that way? What if we really understood just how connected we are. And what if we loved the hell out of each other in exactly the same way that God loves the hell out of us? Jesus didn't come to be ministered to. He came to minister. He didn't come to be served. He came to serve. And to give His life for us. To give His life TO us. Jesus is our true self. That hidden man of the heart. And every time we stop hiding that inner man... every time the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) becomes flesh... that's when we truly BE who we are. That's when our true self is revealed. Because its Jesus. And He reveals Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. LOVE reveals Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us!