An old joke tells of a fella who had a blind date with a young lady. He spent the whole evening talking about himself. Finally, near the end of the date, he said: “I’ve talked about myself enough. Now you talk about me.” Ouch! That’s the first and last date for that guy!
Unfortunately, that joke is played out too literally in these days. Seems folks have lost the skill of common and courteous conversation. So often people spend most of their time talking about themselves, their families, their activities and interests, etc. Have you noticed how seldom certain individuals ask about you, your work, or your family?
This self-centeredness has been encouraged and promoted on the pages of social media. Facebook and similar sites are overrun with people talking about themselves; posting flattering pictures of themselves; telling about their own achievements and those of their children and relatives. There is a new narcissism that exceeds anything ever seen before.
God’s Word warns that a person is “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think” (Romans 12:3). We are urged to “consider one another” (Hebrews 10:24), and to do things that will “edify one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We should “look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:4). Paul’s example was of one who was “not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else” (1 Thessalonians 2:6).
Personal pride and selfish arrogance have no place in the heart of a Christian. Let’s be careful not to follow the current trend of ‘self-ism’. Think!
– by Greg Gwin