You’re Full of It

Every Thursday we’ll post something to do with Emotional Issues or Relational issues. Hope it helps.

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You’re Full of It

“God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.” -D.L. Moody

How can you tell if you’re full of yourself? You might ask yourself these questions, answering as honestly as you’re able:

1. Do the people closest to you tell you that your words or actions suggest an unusual amount of selfishness?
2. Even though you resist temptations towards behaviors you know are forbidden, do you resent having to do so, as though is unfairly taking away your toys?
3. Do you still envy other men who indulge in the things God called you to reject?
4. Do you expect applause for doing what’s necessary, then pout when you don’t get it?
5. Do you think the rules others live by don’t, or at least shouldn’t, apply to you?

If you’re saying “yes” to half of these questions, or more, then you’ve surely got a problem. That indicates that your way of thinking, and not just your behavior, needs retraining. The greatest of all is, as Jesus said, the Servant of all, who puts others needs before his own. And we may as well admit that servant-hood is far from our natural tendency.

This is especially true of men who’ve been in the habit of indulging themselves. You could say, in fact, that indulgence can become a primary language – the language that’s been spoken and practiced for years; even a lifetime. Your primary language is the one you grew up speaking, which now comes fluently and naturally to you.

But you also are capable of learning a second language. The more you practice it, the more fluently it comes. You immerse yourself in it, surrounding yourself with others who speak it, and it comes even more quickly and automatically to you. Each time you speak it, you reinforce it.

Indulgence can be a primary language. Now, though, you’re striving to learn and speak a second one: servanthood. So every time you resist putting your needs above anothers, you’re speaking your second language. The more you practice it, the more fluently it comes, and the more each act of service effects your thinking.

Admittedly, all of this goes against our rebel nature. But denying ourselves, learning the second language of servanthood, and remembering not only who we are but Whose we are is not only the right thing to do. It’s also, in the long run, the smartest thing to do. Because the entitled mindset never works. It yields a bitter, rancid fruit, and, worse yet, it leads to the madness of unbridled, blind selfishness. God grant we never forget that.