I’ve only been a grandmother for a little over a year, but I adore my grandchildren! Infants and toddlers are the most precious among us but they are also the epitome of self-centeredness. Their complete dependence on someone besides themselves for care also makes them the most vulnerable. As our children grow, our goal as parents is to model and teach independence, ultimately working ourselves out of a job, but just maybe we were never meant to be completely independent, either of each other or of our Father, God.
“One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them.
But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him.
Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples,
“Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.
I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.””
Luke 18:15-17 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.18.15-17.NLT
Little children love to be praised but they are not the least bit prideful. When my grandson took his first steps independently this week, everyone who saw him cheered him on, saying, “good job, Thomas!” He beamed under the praise, clapping for himself. Then he jumped right up to go again, looking to his momma or daddy for more affirmation. I remember when God impressed upon me by His Spirit and His Word that His desire was never for me to be self-confident. He desired to instill in me a God-confidence; a mindset of dependence rather than independence, at once recognizing my own human limitations and His supreme sufficiency. After all, He created me in Christ Jesus for good works which He prepared in advance for me that I should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10) It’s His power at work in me to will and to act according to His good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)
“God’s power has given us everything we need to lead a godly life.
All of this has come to us because we know the God who chose us.
He chose us because of his own glory and goodness.”
2 Peter 1:3 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/2pe.1.3.NIRV
“For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.
This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”
2 Corinthians 4:6-7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.4.6-7.NLT
When I send my words out into the world, twice each week by blog, and much more aloud, I am most aware of my dependency on my God and Creator. I have shared before several verses by which the Spirit holds me accountable, but I share them again.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalms 19:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.19.14.NLT
“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
James 3:1 NIV
“You can be sure of this: when the day of judgment comes, everyone will be held accountable for every careless word he has spoken.”
Matthew 12:36 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/mat.12.36.TPT
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Ephesians 4:29 NIV
https://ephesians.bible/ephesians-4-29
Even with all this encouragement, it’s still incredibly difficult to remove myself from the equation. I believe there are some realities that are inescapable this side of glory. I will always struggle with selfishness because I am human, but God’s Spirit in me prompts me to deny self, empowering me to seek the glory of God above my own, and to glory in it.
I think of Isaiah’s encounter with God. He’s just seen the awesome presence of the angel of God who’s voice shook the foundations of the temple. I’m a dead man, he’s thinking. I realize his humility and his answer is acceptable to God. I hear his confession and repentance, and what follows- obedience to the call no matter what. Just notice how many times he uses the word I.
“Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.””
Isaiah 6:5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.6.5.NLT
In a moment of personal worship this week, I was swept up into the melody and lyrics of a favorite worship song as I drove. Even with my heart and my voice lifted in praise to God in that moment , I could not keep my thoughts from circling back to myself. I cannot describe all that went through my mind in that brief moment, but before the traffic light changed, I thanked God that one day in His presence, when I am home in His eternal kingdom, I will worship him with no thought of self at all!
Our society seems obsessed with self awareness and I would like nothing more than to forget self entirely. I want to see the world and those with whom I share this planet as Jesus sees them without first filtering everything by how I may be impacted. I want to be hidden in Christ. I want to learn selflessness as John the Baptist modeled it for his disciples when he said, “He must become greater and greater and I must become less and less.” (John 3:30) This emptying of self is in no way self-deprecating. It is not a false modesty which begs a compliment, nor is it devaluing myself. Pointing beyond myself to Christ enlarges me.
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Colossians 3:1-3 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.3.1-3.NLT
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NIV
https://galatians.bible/galatians-2-20
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.
I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:7-14 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/php.3.7-14.NIV
God is calling us heavenward in Christ Jesus, and He is using us to relay His call. Let’s get out of His way. We are His children. (John 1:12) He is our ultimate reality! (Ephesians 2:6-7)
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