"I define comfort as self-acceptance. When we finally learn that self-care begins and ends with ourselves, we no longer demand sustenance and happiness from others."
I should begin by saying that I might be taking this quote out of context. I came across it while surfing the intertron. I should also say that I get the point that we aren't meant to be co-dependent and devalue ourselves.
But I still feel that this is so often the place where the self-help industry and Christianity part ways. Because I am dependent (see previous blog). Self-care doesn't begin or end with me. One of the many reasons I follow Christ is because I can't take care of myself. Or, as Dylan put it, "we're idiots babe, it's a wonder we can even feed ourselves."
This isn't meant to be a shot at the self-help industry, but at the "self"ness it can often produce. I'm not self-confident. My confidence is in Christ at work in me. That doesn't make me fearful and anxious, in fact, it does just the opposite. I'm not trying to be all I can be. I tried it. It sucked. Now I'm just trying to let God work in me, to let His Spirit produce good fruit through me.
I'm not denying free will, I'm not advocating dependency in the mentally unhealthy sense. But I'm also not advocating the idea that the best thing I can be is myself. I don't think that's true. And I get up everyday praying that God will make me less like myself and more like His Son.
3 comments:
Kester,
i'm with you. and i agree.
i wonder sometimes if my real self is the one you describe... the one who is dependent upon God.
if it is, then my real self is the best thing i can be...
not being argumentative... just pondering.
peace
Miller-
Good point. It could be said that Jesus' intent is to make us into who we were always meant to be.
I still don't think that's what people mean when they say encourage us to simply embrace who we are.
-Kester
I'm not sure I agree completely in that I don't think this is an either/or issue as much as it is a both/and issue.
Certainly, we are all dependent on God at a level that cannot be overstated. But without self-confidence, without the understand that God, himself, designed me and gifted me and has put me here with a purpose, I'm not likely to excell in much. Sure, you could argue that this is really just confidence in God at work through me, but you skate a difficult line.
I fear that either extreme emphasized without lending validity to the other point of view may be incomplete. Like Miller, no desire to be argumentative...just wondering.
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