THE WORD "I"

Written by Chris Bloom, posted by Lora Bloom

There's something poisonous in the very air we breathe. We all imbibe it, and none of us is immune. It twists us and it kills us, but all our lives we're told to get more, because the more we have the healthier we are.

We're all infected with this insidious plague of self-esteem.

Don't get me wrong. We shouldn't all be beating ourselves up and always going on about how awful we are. We just shouldn't think that much about ourselves at all. That esteem doesn't need to be wasted on us. It should be given to God.

There's nothing wrong with thinking you're valuable. God thought you were valuable to die for. But we have to keep some perspective. We shouldn't think more highly than we ought.

Last I heard, none of us was perfect. None of us was a Savior, and none of us died as a sacrifice for the sins of the entire world and was resurrected by God. Until that happens, our regard for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit should be far above our regard for ourselves.

The biggest problem problem in the world is not a lack of self-esteem. It's a lack of God-esteem. We compare ourselves much too favorably with God's example. We're simply not as good as we think we are, and God's not as bad.

This is clearly seen in the way we use language. The most commonly-used word is 'I", and I'm pretty sure the equivalent is true in other languages. We love to talk about ourselves, and we do it without even realizing it. In fact, I'm doing it right now, and to be perfectly honest part of the reason I like doing this is that I love the attention. I may try to deflect the focus to God, but it's still my name at the top of the page, and I can't deny I like to see it there.

All the same, it's not my ego that needs stroking. All this glory belongs to God, not me. Remember that it's not about me thinking I'm awful, but about going credit where it's due.

God is all-seeing. We're not. God is all-knowing. We're not. God is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-forgiving. We're none of those things, and our refusal to acknowledge that someone else is is nothing but pettiness.

Rick Warren famously started THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE with the words, "It's not about you." While I'm by no means the biggest fan of Mr Warren, I agree that that's something we need to admit. It's not about us, and we aren't at the center of the universe. That's good, because we're not meant to be,

No one can do what he did, or continues to do. The responsibility would crush any mortal man, and I have yet to meet anyone who would make a good replacement for God. The worst "I" just isn't big enough.

[LC Bloom is barely big enough to be himself. He's from Birmingham, Alabama, and can be reached at lechroom@icloud.com. He also writes for Built for Glory (www.builtforglory.blogspot.com) and has written for COBRASAURUS!!!!! (WWW.COBRASAURUS.BLOGSPOT.COM)]