As Christians, sometimes it’s easy to be led astray by cultural trends. Old self gets in the way. We run after things of this world, looking for contentment. This can cause us to lose perspective and shift priorities to suit what we want. We become self-absorbed and before you know it……….
Today we will discover why denying self in today’s culture is essential for self-care. In a previous post, Self-care is Essential for the Soul, we looked at the definition and differences between cultural self-care and biblical self-care. I pray you were able to gain perspective when thinking about the biblical view of self. When we focus on living our life with purpose, while keeping our eyes on our savior, we can find nourishment and restoration for our soul in His never-ending grace.
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Denying Self in Today’s Culture is essential for Self-Care
When Self Gets in the Way
As Christians, sometimes it’s easy to be led astray by cultural trends. Old self gets in the way. We run after things of this world, looking for contentment. This can cause us to lose perspective and shift priorities to suit what we want. We become self-absorbed and before you know it, we turn away from the commitment that Jesus asks of us. Getting caught up in “self” causes us to stumble in our walk with Jesus. Feelings of loneliness, disappointment, anger, and overwhelm may steal our joy. As we search for emotional comfort, we find ourselves turning to cultural trends in self-care. The irresistible advertisements for self-care activities that we feel we deserve, leave us feeling empty and in need of nourishment and restoration.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:24
Denying Self for More Jesus
Jesus loves us and wants more for us. He demonstrated that love the day he paid the ultimate price. As Christians, true contentment can only come from denying self, taking up our cross and become true followers of Jesus. The selfless act of denying self is a demonstration of our love and total surrender. When we surrender to Christ, we are giving up our will and surrendering to follow Jesus and living by His will. Only then will we realize that Jesus is enough! His love is sufficient to nourish our souls and offer rest and restoration. Denying self in today’s culture is essential for self-care.
Finding True Nourishment and Restoration in Jesus
It’s so easy to get caught up in “self.” We are chasing after our will without any thought to our true mission as disciples of Christ. However, God’s words tell us that self is our own true enemy. Following self leads us down that rabbit hole which causes burn out and exhaustion. We attempt to find nourishment and restoration from what culture attempts to deceive us with. What we perceive as self-care is actually distorted and becomes self-neglect. It’s only when we deny self that we proclaim that Jesus is enough!
True nourishment and restoration will never be found when participating in the cultural trends of self-care. True nourishment and restoration can only be found in Jesus when we begin to surrender to God’s will for our life. Denying self is the ultimate form of self-care.
Do you ever find yourself chasing that rabbit? How do you stop the chase? What do you do for self-care?
Digging Deeper
We will continue to study the bible while focusing on biblical view of self and how it relates to self-care. We will discover the tools and strategies to put into place to assist us on our journey.
- Self-Care is Essential for the Soul
- Denying Self
- Seeing Yourself as God Sees You
- Caring for the Temple
- Bearing Fruit
- Resting in God’s Love
- Eternal Focus
