Dearly Beloved.
Today for a brief moment we mourn the loss of a friend. This is a friend that we all know well. He seems to always have been there for us. He was always there to pick us up when we felt down. He seemed to be the consummate encourager and friend. It seemed as if when everyone else was looking to tear us down he was there, to well…
pick us up!!!
Even if it was for a moment he always worked to make us each feel better about who we were. However, the reality of the matter was that he was a liar. He never wanted to satisfy you or me. It was all a terrible rouse. He did nothing more than feed the deep and dark areas of our soul. Today I will not be reading any eulogies of Psalm 23. There will be no sheep in green pastures. There will be no quiet waters. But today I gladly and willingly bury you. Today…
SELF GRATIFICATION IS LAID TO REST!!!
How so you may ask?
Now I am not naive enough to think that you, me, or any other person can seriously claim on a website that self gratification will be completely laid to rest. But I know that for me it has to start somewhere and for me it starts here. If I am to be honest, my whole life has been spent, for the most part, looking for acceptance and affirmation from others. It is funny what self seeking will lead one to do. Insert multiple forms of media and social networks and the appetite began to grow even more.
We all want to be known. We all want to “know” somebody. We all want that somebody to tell somebody that we are somebody. We all want someone to tell us we have value. We all want someone to tell us that we have worth. But the realization I have come to is not a new one. In fact many before me have written and warned of it. I have come to the decision that it is time that I start slaying the things in my life that are self seeking. If I do not do so, it will ultimately kill me first. And honestly if you are not careful…it will destroy you too.
So where do I start? As I said, right here. I love to write and create. This space will be for that. This space will be raw. It will be a place where I work through life, love, and creativity. I hope you will journey with me. However, in order for this space to be what I long for and need for it to be I have disabled the comments section. Now for many that may not seem like a big deal. However, for me it is huge. That means that I can stop worrying about who is going to read and who is not. I can create and not care if one person or a thousand read it. I can create and not worry about whether people affirm it or not. I can be what God has always wanted from me…
ME!!!
That last phrase was liberating for me to write. I am not perfect. I have issues. I am messy. I deal with things inside that no one will ever know because of my need for affirmation. However, the beauty is, is that God is working something greater in me and in you than our self gratification. Gratification of self leads to nothing but emptiness, bitterness, and rage. However, living in the freedom of the Creator of the Universe causes us to live out what he has placed in each one of us. So today I say, to you Self Glorification…,
R.I.P.
My hope is that you will journey along with me. I would love to hear your stories, but I would rather hear them in person or in the very least through email. For more places to read about what helped me make this decisions here are two great posts by two great places I like to read:
So with that said…
Here is to a new day, a new beginning, and a new us!!!
LET'S SOCIALIZE