The Problem of “Self”

One of my favorite quotes from John the Baptist is Jn. 3:30 (CEV): “Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.” (NKJV): “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John’s words remind us that our greatest single problem in life is “self”.
1. The world numerically ranks self as “Number 1”!
2. The world preaches, “If you don’t look out for #1”, who will?”
What is the spiritual source of such an attitude?
1. All Satan thinks of is “self”: the “unholy trinity” of “Me, Myself & I”.
2. Satan’s task is to tempt us to become more & more “self-focused”.
3. Many worldly ads & commercials seek to sell their products by suggesting, “You owe it to yourself”.
4. Because of sin & Satan, self has become such a powerful enemy that all humans tend to be “self-focused”.
5. Rather than “self-focused” we are to be “Christ-focused”.
“S ‘I’ n” revolves around the middle letter “I”. If Satan is purely self-focused, a “self-focused” life produces “works of flesh”- Gal. 5:19-21.
1. The more we focus on “I” (“self”) the more “self-conscious” we are.
  1. Can lead to superiority complex—think of myself as superior.
  2. Can lead to inferiority complex—think of myself as inferior.

Either way a self-focused attitude leads to “complex” problems.

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As the “I” grows bigger in my thinking, Jesus becomes smaller! This is just the opposite of John the Baptist’s attitude that “Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.”
The “self-focused” words of the rich fool graphically illustrate the problem we all face: Luke 12:16-21, Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. [Since God is the source of all good blessings (Jms. 1:17), He was the One blessing the rich man with good soil that yielded plentifully. Rather than humbling himself & thanking God for his blessings, the rich man only thought of himself.] ¹⁷And he thought within himself saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ [Rather than seeking God’s will through prayer]…¹⁸he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’ [The rich man did not praise God for his wealth and seek to use it to God’s glory! His only praise was “self-centered” as he sought to use his wealth for his own worldly pleasures]. ²⁰But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ ²¹So is he who lays up treasure for himself, & is not rich toward God”.

The rich man was living the “I” focused life. God called him a “fool!”
1. We all choose to either live the foolish “I” focused life or a life of wisdom that is “Christ-focused”. There are no other choices!
2. How do we choose to live a “Christ-focused” life? Must make the daily choice to give Jesus His rightful “first-place” in our hearts.
  1. Luke 9:23-26, Then (Jesus) said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself [What does Jesus tell us to do with “self”? Rather than crowning self as “lord” of our lives we are to “deny self”. How? By taking the eyes of our hearts off of self & focusing them (by faith) upon Jesus. Self-focus = life of sight. Christ-focus = life of faith.
3. Jesus adds that as we deny self we must…take up our crosses daily, and follow Me. [When Jesus went to the cross—how much did He give? When we take up our crosses—how much should we give? Through our identification with Jesus & His death on Calvary we are to die to living for self/this world. Very radical decision. It is a decision that the majority of the world does not want to make. Paul is our great example of taking up the cross daily.]
  1. Galatians 2:20, “I” have been crucified with Christ; [Paul “reckoned” the big “I” of his life as nailed to the cross of Jesus-cf. Rom 6:11.] it is no longer “I” who live, but “Christ” lives in me; [In another verse Paul wrote, “For me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). Paul chose to no longer live a self-focused life, but a Christ-focused life by allowing Jesus’ Spirit to live in him. This is the message of the gospel for those who would follow Jesus. Only as I bury the old man of sin by water baptism into its death with Jesus (Rom. 6:3-4) can I count myself “crucified with Jesus”. Then I can say] the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me & gave Himself for me.]
  2. Jesus goes on Lk. 9…²⁴For whoever desires to save his life will lose it [To “save our lives” is to “grab all the gusto” we can. It reflects the worldly attitude of the rich man who said: ‘soul take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’ [In contrast to this selfish attitude Jesus says], but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. [My life is lost when I count myself crucified with Christ.] ²⁵For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
    1. Our choice between self or Jesus carries eternal consequences!
    2. Difference of heaven/hell.

The bootblack’s sign: “I live to dye and dye to live, and the more I dye the better I live”.
1. The more I “d-i-e” to “self”, the more Jesus lives in me.
2. The more Jesus lives in me; the more joyful is my life.
3. True Christians live to d-i-e to self so Jesus might live in them, & the more we die to self, the better we live!

A penny held close to the eye blocks out the light of the s-u-n. So also our focus upon the penny of self blocks the spiritual light of the S-o-n!

The world asks, “Are you getting ‘bigger’?” Jesus asks, “Are you getting ‘smaller’”? “Jesus becomes more important, when I become less important.” As Jesus becomes more important I grow spiritually. Our struggle to make Jesus the focus of our lives is vividly illustrated in the progressive verses of the song, All to Jesus I Surrender:
1. All of self and none of Thee! [All of us start out totally “self-focused” as this is “human nature”. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Many learn the hard way that the most miserable people in the world are those who are all wrapped up in themselves. They devote all of their thinking to self & what they want in life. This attitude explains all of the misery/unhappiness in our world today!]
2. Some of self and some of Thee! [Many decide to live some for self & some for Jesus. They have enough faith to believe that they should engage in “some religion”. Some may even give Jesus 75% of their hearts, but we must love Him with all of our hearts, souls, minds & strength!]
3. Less of self and more of Thee! [Spiritual growth begins as we learn the great mystery of the gospel that the more I focus upon Jesus rather than self, the more joy the Spirit will impart to my heart! It is up to me. How much will I “count myself crucified with Christ” (Rom. 6:11) so that Jesus is free to live His life of joy in my heart?]
4. None of self and all of Thee! [The most joyful life we can choose to live. It is the life of true J-O-Y as we learn to get our priorities right in life!

J esus O thers Y ourself! (cf. Matt. 22:37-40) You have tried the life of “self-trust”, why not devote yourself to the life of “Christ-trust”?]

-Ralph Weinhold (Dardanelle, Arkansas)