Self-Centeredness

 

Self-centeredness is a snare. The world encourages self-reliance, promotes success, and despises humility. If you are all wrapped up in yourself, being truly happy and finding fulfillment in life is impossible. Selfishness is addictive. Someone focused on satisfying their needs and longings is never content. There is always something more to lure them. They strive to attain their desire, but once they reach it, the excitement fades, and they need something else.
 
With self-centeredness, achievements never satisfy you. You have a void that can never be filled. This is because you can never satisfy yourself. The only way to experience fulfillment in life is to deny self. You must learn to live for something infinitely more significant than yourself.
 
Jesus said: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
 
God did not create us to live self-focused lives. He created us to lose ourselves to Him.
 
Self-centeredness turns our wants into needs and our needs into problems. It kills relationships and dissolves good intentions. Most believers don’t know how to deal with self-centeredness. They keep praying about it and beating themselves up with guilt and shame, but nothing seems to help. 
 
There is only one way to get rid of self-centeredness. You become free of it by becoming a living sacrifice.
 
Paul said, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
 
Sacrificing yourself is your reasonable service. When you choose to be a “living sacrifice,” you don’t focus on the act of your sacrifice. If you do, your sacrifice has the potential to become about you. You must take your focus off yourself and place it on Jesus. Self-sacrifice is difficult. That is why it takes humility. You can force yourself to sacrifice something, but that is not the same as letting it go in your heart. 
 
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, KJV).
 
Our lives aren’t about us. To live the life of Jesus we must learn to “live by the faith of the Son of God.” If Jesus says we can comfort those who hurt, heal the sick, forgive those who offend us, and love those who despise us, we can humble ourselves and believe it. If we humble ourselves in God’s sight, He will lift us up to be a living sacrifice (James 4:10).
 
In Matthew 16:16, Jesus blesses Peter for recognizing Him as the Son of the living God. A few verses later, Jesus tells the disciples He will be rejected, mistreated, die, and rise again. Peter, who had joyfully received Jesus’ blessing, now doesn’t receive these words. 
 
“Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You,” he declares (Matthew 16:22). Peter wouldn’t let Jesus be rejected, mistreated, and die! He would save him!
 
Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16:23).
 
Peter pridefully declared he could save Jesus when Jesus had really come to save him. Peter was selfishly promoting himself over God’s plan. It was true that Peter was ignorant of God’s will in sending Jesus, and he must have been crushed by Jesus’ rebuke when he had just received His praise, but Jesus had to deal with Peter’s pride before it became sown in his heart. 
 
Often, we don’t see God’s greater purpose in a difficult issue. Self will rise up, declaring we need to do something, when in truth, if we would humble ourselves and listen to the Holy Spirit, we could avoid the predicaments pride brings. We need to crucify pride before it takes root in our hearts. Humbling ourselves to live by the faith of Jesus is the only way to be a living sacrifice who overcomes pride.
 
Jesus denied Himself for our sake. He surrendered His will to the Father’s will. He was tempted as we are, yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He didn’t want to be rejected. He didn’t want to suffer pain (Matthew 26:39). But He knew He had been born to die for us (Revelations 13:8). Jesus couldn’t allow His mind to focus on any other purpose than the one before Him. That would have been pride. Jesus humbled Himself for our sake to fulfill God’s plan for His life (Philippians 2:8).
 
If we want to fulfill God's plan for our lives, we must humble ourselves as Christ humbled Himself for us.
 
“A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor.” (Proverbs 29:23).
 
Pride will humiliate us. It will obstruct what God can do in and through us. We should represent the Father humbly as Jesus did. Jesus was meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29). He didn’t come to serve Himself but to serve us (John 13:13-17). Just like Peter, we need to humble ourselves to receive the Lord’s blessing, but we also need to be humble enough not too think highly of ourselves.
 
Life is not about us. We are blessed to bless others. We are not made to be selfish, receiving God’s blessings just for ourselves. That abuses the grace humbly given to us. We need to humble ourselves as Jesus humbled Himself for us. True humility is losing ourselves to Jesus. He is our living sacrifice. We live by the faith of the Son of the living God, who loved us and gave His life for us.