September 15, 2006
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Last night, husband and I had theoretical reflections about many things including the “self.” One of the questions was why do we have a constant need in life? Why do we have these constant desires to fulfill our lives in doing including helping, giving, acquiring, achieving? My answer is because we don’t know who we really are. We don’t have a sense of being rooted in life which is our nature. Though we are called human beings, most of us are human doings. This is why we have so many people looking for the others as saviors to help them complete their sense of self. This is why we go through life searching for a sense of specialness that operates on the level of “better than” or “more than” or “me, the special one.” This is our purpose in life: to strengthen our egoic sense of self. And it may be the motivating force behind our actions in whatever we do.
So we live in fear that other may be more superior than we are. We invest so heavily on our sense of self by constant comparing, analyzing, labeling, judging, complaining, blaming, and attacking others so that we can strengthen the “me.” We complain about life situations and people. “This shouldn’t be happening….” When we complain about something or somebody, we feel that we are right and the other person and situation we are complaining about is wrong. There is always this precarious sense of self and love being right. So we are constantly in a conflict relationships with things, situations, other people, and even ourselves. We cannot be happy with ourselves because something that happened in the past that preventing us from being ourselves truly or something hasn’t happened yet.
When we can not achieve the specialness in the way we want, we achieve a reverse specialness by feeling unfairly treated by life. By feeling that we are victims of certain people or situations, we feel very special. So we can still win even if we loose. After five minutes of meeting a stranger, this person knows our whole life stories. “Do you know what he did to me three years ago…..” We build our specialness around the suffering that happened or even is happening in our lives and imprison ourselves behind the bars that we erect. But at least we have a story that says our lives treat us “more” unfairly than most people, at least we have the feeling of “more than.” See how clever we are?
Comments (14)
Sometimes we are so clever that we want to understand God in the palm of our hands … We put God’s purposes out, and put the “self” in; and we think we can become greater than God … hehe …:)
True, have a good weekend chi..
summed up the basic problem nicely.
i think you would agree that everyone is entitled to some level of decency/basic physical needs met though. I still consider these things to “should” be fulfilled
maybe b/c we’re so well trained about the ‘survival of the fittest’ thing????
I think in many individualistic societies, we want to differentiate ourselves from others by saying we’re “better off” than this person or “worse off” than this person. It’s difficult to imagine us all part of one large person–where we are all connected.
Ahhhhh…..”human beings” vs. “human doings”….I love it!
Yes, I’m still out here…..good to stop back over. Missed you!
~Ann~
Sure , we all search, which is good, but some of us found God & His son Jesus to be that fullfilment you talk about.
I must admit that I have gone thru the doing and missed a lot of intimate relationship with Jesus that He provided thu the cross.I now see myself thru His eyes and I like what I see because I know I am fullfilling His purpose.
Excellent…excellent post. At the present time I am dealing with a young woman who has issues with her self-worth. So often she plays the martyr role…”Look what all I have done” she says with a tired (not satisfied) sigh. The ‘poor me’ personality wears thin quickly. ~ mom
we (humans) are the best at holding onto crap.
Galatians 3
1O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you £that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed £among you as crucified? 2This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—6just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”£ 7Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”£ 9So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
10For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”£ 11But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”£ 12Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”£
13Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”£), 14that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
15Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,”£ who is Christ. 17And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God £in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
19What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
21Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
26For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
hehehe hi chi A. haven’t visit chi in a while, funny how the poem that I made yesterday kinda go w/ what you said here. Have a great weekend chi! ^_^
I can’t talk to this right now too attached to my home. Judi
Hey Lady ! I haven’t heard from you lately. I couldn’t help but think of you and your blogging as I read this mornings devotions, from Oswald Chambers. Please don’t take it wrong.. I truley care that you find Christ real in your soul”
You may delete this if you wish.
… present … your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:13).
I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. The redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith on it. If I construct my faith on my own experience, I produce the most unscriptural kind of life—an isolated life, with my eyes focused solely on my own holiness. Beware of that human holiness that is not based on the atonement of the Lord. It has no value for anything except a life of isolation—it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every kind of experience you have by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the foundation of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
The atonement of Jesus must be exhibited in practical, unassuming ways in my life. Every time I obey, the absolute deity of God is on my side, so that the grace of God and my natural obedience are in perfect agreement. Obedience means that I have completely placed my trust in the atonement, and my obedience is immediately met by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.
Beware of the human holiness that denies the reality of the natural life—it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the trial or test of the atonement and ask, “Where is the discernment of the atonement in this, and in that?”