What To Do When You Can’t Not Talk About Yourself

Some argue that Jesus' command that we ought to love our neighbors as ourselves presupposes that self-love is ultimate to our purpose as human beings. Just turn on a daytime talk show—any talk show—and you're bound to hear this oft repeated maxim if you listen long enough. But contrary to the popular understanding, I believe Jesus' point is that we already love ourselves. So much so that we are infatuated with self in both narcissistic self-congratulating categories as well as in self-loathing.…

Honesty about the human condition is prerequisite for good news. Until we're able to see that there is indeed a very real problem not just within the world somewhere out there, but within each individual heart, there will be no lasting hope. The good news is that you're not the good news and hope exists outside of yourself and the incessant need to "make lemonade when life gives us lemons." So the obvious question to ask is, now what?

But for the Lemonade Lifer, even this gets twisted up in off based atta-boy-ism. The call of Jesus to lose your life in order to gain it does not require being more sold out for the cause and getting all your possessions on the lawn for an everything must go yard sale. Losing your life is a call to a kind of death. And that means, at the very least, it's time to shut up about what we must do to be in God's good graces. Give up, die to self, and receive a free gift. Period.

Here's some more good news. There is a way out of the despair. But it'll cost ya. ... God doesn't do successful living seminars. He gets things done through death and resurrection.

Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

In I Corinthians 15:31 Paul says that he dies daily. How hard it is to stop focusing on ourselves. The flesh constantly tries to change our focus to bring us back to viewing the world our way with ourselves and not Christ at the center.

Good thread, yes Jesus said to love our neighbor as we do ourselves, but I think we would have to quit loving our selves and replace it with the love of Christ to be able to do that.

John 3
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Being born again means born of the spirit, we can see the son of God as our salvation, we know that Jesus died for us.

Not so we would not have to die but so that we could die to this world so that we can live again.

But what happened? I find that even though I believe that Jesus is the only begotten son of God and that he went to the cross to die for me so that I can be saved I still have many of the same stupid habits and my body still has the same cravings as it did before.

1 Cor 15
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Death will take care of cleansing the body.

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Death only has a sting and the grave only has a victory to those who do not have the spirit of God.

For the ones who have the spirit of God death has no sting because we will be lifted up.

The grave will have no victory because it is just holding a vacant body.

The 2nd great commandment is 2nd for a reason, as it presumes a foundational moral basis which defines what love is and acts, flowing from the 1st great commandment, to love God will all we have.

Good thread, yes Jesus said to love our neighbor as we do ourselves, but I think we would have to quit loving our selves and replace it with the love of Christ to be able to do that.

Very true. The Bible assumes we already have plenty of love for ourselves. I think the commandment is to be a conduit for God’s love to others in the same way we lavish ourselves with love. I don’t think anyone really has a problem of not loving themselves or they wouldn’t eat and take care of themselves. We have to get our love for ourselves out of the way so we can love others, hence the need to do like Paul did and die to self daily.

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