September 3

“A disciple named Stephen, outstanding for no other reason, kept looking at Jesus, and as he was murdered, he didn’t fall to the ground screaming in self-pity and anguish, ‘...he kneeled down, and cried in a loud voice [as his Master had cried], Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.’”  Eugenia Price, S.P.S., 8/31

Self-pity is devastating.  It saps you of all strength and then finishes you off with your own hands around your neck.  It’s not a pretty sight.  Why do we succumb to this so often?  It’s because it’s the only tool the ego has to get attention for itself.  Ego thrives on attention.  If we could just see this, we would see ego as our enemy because it is the antipathy of self-respect.  When we give it power over us we become duped into thinking it’s looking out for our best interest.  But it’s not.  We suffer greatly under its rule.  This is what Jesus came to save us from--the tyranny of the ego.  I think one of the ways ego has blinded us is to make Self out to be the perpetrator.  Then when ego gets caught we blame Self instead.  All this does is lead us further into self-pity because we begin to attack Self.  We need to understand that Self is who God made us to be and it’s only in giving ego power over us that Self has become corrupted.  Christ has come to save Self from this corruption and restore Self to HimSelf.  We need only allow Christ to love us into this restoration by declaring our old Selves dead and our new Selves alive in Him.

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”  Psalm 23:1-4