Oh boy isn't it a problem?
But we won't start with our self...
We will start with others in the Bible who were full of themselves....
Saul- at first thought low of himself
(I'm the least from the tribe of Benjamin, then became obsessed with himself and jealous of David when they sang "Saul killed his thousands and David killed ten thousands ) (See 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel)
Nebuchadnezzar- so full of himself he made a large statue and demanded worship, then later was humbled like a lowly animal and admitted "the Lord alone is God" (See Daniel 3:1-6; Daniel Ch. 4)
David - a humble shepherd boy, the youngest of his brothers, ( 1 Samuel 16) later promoted to King (2 Samuel) , then pride took over via the vehicle of lust ( 2 Samuel 11) , then humbled again when the Prophet Nathan called him out (2 Samuel 12:1-7) (I'm so thankful for the "Nathan's" God uses to gently show us with are in sin)
Id ego and super ego
Even Martha (Mary's sister) had a self problem- "why isn't she helping me Jesus ! Make her help me!" (Say in a whiny voice) She should have been amazed to serve Jesus in stead she was caught up in making the Pinterest perfect meal, again so she could get applause. (see Luke 10:38-42)
A good friend recommended a book ---
"The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness: the path to true Christian Joy" by Timothy Keller to my husband. He couldn't stop talking about it and sharing nuggets with me...
For example:
When you look at someone on tv and say, "Wow, look at her! She's so fit... I need to start working out"
you aren't saying that because you're proud of her or glad for her... what you are really saying is "she's more fit than me...." and once again it goes back to the attention being on self.
Timothy Keller explains that it's not about thinking less of your self, or thinking more of your self it's about
THINKING OF YOUR SELF LESS (that is the self view has no power over you)
This a challenging concept to summarize and I suggest you buy the 30 page book Timothy Keller book from Amazon (or other site)
Basically, Paul in writing to the Corinthians encourages them to think less of themselves. Don't pull rank and be full of pride, don't walk around saying "I'm garbage, I'm no body" both of these views are incorrect for the Christian.
We should simply say
"Christ loves me, and it is His opinion that matters, nothing more nothing less"
Keller goes on to explain that our American Culture is obsessed with performance based verdicts. It's all about how I perform, then I look in the mirror and give myself a grade. Or, how I perform, then I put it on social media and let my friends give me a grade. Or I serve at church and I beg God to give me a grade.
All of these are wrong.
In thinking of ourselves less- we already have a view of completion because of the finished work of Christ.
We don't have to perform.
We don't have to look at ourselves harshly, or highly...
No
We simply look at Christ and then "do" as the Spirit leads...
CS Lewis noted in Mere Christianity (and cited by Keller) that if we met a truly humble person... we would not remember them thinking "wow that guy was humble" no... what we would remember from meeting a truly Gospel- humble person is how much they seemed to be totally interested in us. Because the essence of Gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.
John the Baptist said it so well
"He must increase and I must decrease"
Let's practice this thinking and re-train our brain (with prayer and Gods working it in us course) . Let's put others first. Let's imitate Christ. Let's get over our selfie.
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