Lose Yourself

Have you ever been in church and listened to the homily thinking about how it applies to you? Or you open your bible and you read book after book trying to make it be about how it can help you? I have been there and done that way more times than I would like to count. On a podcast once (I wish I could remember who it was), and they were talking about this same thing and the person told him, “You know, maybe you need to get up out of that church pew and serve more than yourself.” The truth of the matter is, the Bible isn’t about us and it was never meant to be. The Bible holds the truths that God has for us. It is the blueprint for our life if you will. It will give you the guidance and provide you with all the truth you need to live your life in accordance with God’s will. It is a story about the greatest love a Father could ever have for His Son. It’s about Jesus and his time here on earth. Everything that you hear in church isn’t always for you, but maybe if you listen it’s how you can better serve those around you. You have to truly be able to lose yourself to find yourself.

“If your faith exists to make you feel better about yourself, you’re going to veer off course.” Sharon Hodde Miller

Free of Me; Pg. 33, Ch.2.

If all we are ever focused on is improvement of ourselves we will miss out of the bigger picture. Jesus’ life was about serving others and bringing them to know and love His Father. It wasn’t about what He wanted to do. There were several instances in the Bible when He was interrupted in His journey, which I grantee you we would have been bothered by, and instead of that He embraced the interruption and blessed them in His Father’s name. Nothing about our faith is involved in self serving, it’s about giving and bringing people together in the name of Christ. This does not mean you should not take care of yourself, because yes I firmly believe that there are times when that is the case. Trust me I love a few hours to myself without my kids or a weekend away here and there. Self care is not a bad thing, but at some point the focus has to quit being all about you.

“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it the whole army of evil desires at war within you?”

James 4:1

Life Application Study Bible

We all have some kind of internal struggle within us, whether you struggle with depression, body image issues, eating disorders, anxiety, the list goes on and on. He knows our struggles but do not for one second think that Satan doesn’t know them either. Satan knows them better than we realize and he knows how to twist the truth enough to take you further from our heavenly Father. Before you can even realize it you have drifted further than you ever intended to. I say this because I have fallen prey to this myself.

You cannot let these internal struggles overcome you. They can not blur our vision so much that we forget about the bigger picture Jesus has called us to. You can read all the self help books in the world but the one person who can really put you back together and who holds the answers your soul is deeply searching for is found in our Father. I pray you go into this week being intentional with working toward more than ourselves. I hope these lyrics from one of my favorite songs gives you some inspiration;

” I searched through the Earth for something that could satisfy, A peace for the hurt I had buried deep inside. Knees on the floor, I finally found everything I needed. You lifted my soul and opened my up my eyes. And I never knew anything lasts forever, Till I found you, I never dreamed anything could be better, Till I found you, till I found you.”

Till I Found You- Phil Wickham