Words you won't find in the Bible

You will not find the following words in the Bible:

self-care
self-love
self-worth
self-esteem

These are man-made words.  So the question that begs to be answered is, why did we come up with these words?

Because for most, self is god.  We are obsessed with ourselves.

That is at the root of the first sin, isn't it?  Eve thought self knew better than God.  Oh sure, you can say that she was deceived by the serpent - and she was. 

But Eve had a choice.  She could have remembered what God commanded her to do and obeyed Him.  She could have taken her eyes off the serpent and herself (her own reasoning).  After all, God blatantly told Adam and Eve to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  

Once Eve put her trust in anyone else other than God, she was doomed.  

And so are we.

Do not believe for one minute that focusing on yourself more is the answer in life.

Focusing on ourselves less is where it's at!

How can I say these things?  Because it's all in there, in the Bible.  Everything we need for life - how to live it, who to worship, why we are here - is all found in its pages.

Ergo, if all of these "self" words are not in there, we must not need them for a good life!

There are wires in your brain that are not computing right now.  I can feel it!

"Of course I must take care of myself!"  "If I have no self-worth, I will not feel good about myself!"

But when and how does it end?  The self is a hungry beast.  It is never satisfied with more self.

We were made for God and we will never know any true meaning, peace, worth, or love until we are found in Him.

I didn't make this up!  These are solid truths from God Almighty.

Now, the trick is will you believe them?  Or will you continue to look for meaning and worth and love in yourself?

So where do we go?  Where to find these vital parts that make up our lives?

God.

God loves us.
God cares for us.
God makes us worthy.
God esteems us.

We look to God to meet all of these needs and not only are we full, but we want for no more.

We've seen how the self stuff plays out.  It draws attention to more self!  

But we are here to glorify God, not ourselves!

He does not want you to feel bad about yourself.  But nor does He want you self-focused!  He knows that it is a dead end.  It leads nowhere except back to more self.  It's like a dog chasing its tail.

So I guess it comes down to allowing God to love and care for us.  After all, He made us!

How on earth does He show us his love and care? Oh my.  The list is endless.

I suppose on the top of the list is His ultimate sacrifice for us on the cross.  Dying for us self-absorbed people, now that's something!

It's as if Jesus, on the cross, is saying to each one of us, "Look at Me.  I am on this agonizing cross for you.  I am dying for your sins because I love you so passionately that I am willing to be separated from God and go to hell for you, though I did nothing to deserve this.  You need never look elsewhere for a greater love because I am the greatest love you will ever know."

Jesus promises to care for us more than the birds of the air and the flowers of the field.  We are priceless to Him, so much are we worth in His eyes.

He searched until He found that one lost sheep.
He killed the fatted calf for the son who betrayed Him.
He performed miracle upon miracle when He walked this earth, and He has passed the baton onto us saying that we will do even greater things than He!  Dear God!
He rose from the dead so that we need never die and will live forever with Him in His glorious Presence!

The list goes on and on of all of His benefits toward us, dear ones.

Believe me, I know the tug and pull of self every day of my life.  It is, as I said earlier, a never-satisfied beast!

But we don't need to tame the beast within.  It simply must go. But how?  We surrender it to it's Maker.  We let go.  We shift our focus off of ourselves and finally and actually become all that God intended us to be.

It seems kind of backwards - the less we focus on ourselves and focus more on God, the more ourselves we will be - full of His love, His care, His deeming us worthy.

It's a battle, to be sure.  Especially since we live in a world that promotes self-worship.

Let us look to Jesus instead.  There we will find all we could ever hope for, imagine, or dream of.  And out of that fullness, He will be glorified in us, which is what draws others to Him.

Dearest Lord.  Oh how I wish Eve never sinned!  What a wake she left behind her.  But Your blood covers over our sins, precious Savior, and redeems us from the hell that we all deserve, from Hitler to Mother Theresa! What a Savior!  What a plan!  What love!  We need not fall into the trap of self-anything, which is a bottomless pit of despair and hopelessness in the end.  Oh that we would look to You and keep looking toward You instead, dear Lord.  Help us in this battle!  And as we look to You, Lord, set us free from self and all of its deceitfulness.  For in You alone do we find our true worth, love, care, and esteem.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.