Self-pity

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Photography by Abigail Williams

 

These past few weeks, I’ve been really struggling with old mindsets and I’ve been doing everything I can think of to fix it.

Until one day I realized I’d been looking inside at my own issue for so long that I didn’t even realize I’d missed the whole point of existence.

First, to live unto God and bring Him glory.

That’s a given.

But secondly, for others.

By bringing comfort to those who are mourning.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says it so beautifully, 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

And to have breakthrough.

I cannot allow myself to sit and wallow around in my self-pity just to have a “spiritual high”, cry some emotional tears and allow myself to say, “Good quiet time today” when in reality, nothing happened but a pat on the back, and some sweet intimacy with Jesus.

Now, intimacy with Jesus is everything.

PERIOD.

Do it, pray, fast, spend time with the Lord.

But if nothing happened in your quiet time but a pat on the back, then you’ve only seen a tiny piece of the beauty of intimacy and fellowship with the Lord.

He brings healing to our wounds, yes, He speaks and tells us who we are, yes yes yes.

But He also is the creator of EVERYTHING.

Don’t forget that there are people who you are passing at the grocery store, at the mall, at school, everywhere, that need you to pull yourself out of your pity party, fight the good fight of faith, and have breakthrough in whatever it is you're pouting about.

If you’re struggling with sin, okay, repent, sin no more, and start over. 

Don’t allow the enemy to cause you to stay in a mode of defeat.

When you stay there, you allow him to steal your voice.

If your feelings get hurt, talk to the person (kindly and lovingly), apologize (even if it’s not your fault, we’re called to be humble. Get over it.), and start over.

We cannot afford to sit and throw temper tantrums.

We cannot waste time being idle in our lack of controlled emotions.

That is emotional complacency.

Complacency means to be “self-satisfied”.

It is selfish to be satisfied there.

Now there are obvious moments, like in mourning when someone passes to take time to heal, God even talks about it. 

“There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance”.

Ecclesiastes 3:4

But even then, don’t stay there.

Don’t get stuck.

People around you need you.

I think sometimes we become so consumed with our own problems, that if we stopped and actually looked around at those around us, our problems would grow extremely dim.

The only reason they appear so big to us, is because like Karen Wheaton says, 

"What we meditate on we believe".

Struggling with self-hate, eating disorders, pornography, etc, becomes extremely small when capturing God’s heart for those around us.

When you’re doing the will of the Father, even food becomes irrelevant.

“Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are four yet months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.”

John 4:34-35

Lift up your eyes, see Him, and see them.