Sunday, January 9, 2011

Change Your Diet

What feeds your self-esteem? We live in a culture that prizes excelling in sports, business, art, music, money, and most of us eat up this value system like candy.

We have "Plays of the Year," "Albums and Artists of the Year," even "Sexiest Man or Woman Alive," - we must stop and ask ourselves: How does being taught that these are the things that matter most in life affect us?

There is nothing wrong with competition, we all need to strive to fulfill our potential, but the question is in what areas? If we listen to the lie of our culture, we strive to be faster, stronger, more intelligent, more attractive, wealthier. 

But if we use those categories to determine our sense of self-worth, we will never be satisfied.

Rather our focus should be on the value of gaining life by losing it (Mt 16.25). In leaving a legacy of love as we invest in others. Valuing things like kindness, generosity, patience, mercy, and looking out for the vulnerable.

Contrary to what our culture says, you were not made to be the most beautiful, or talented, or wealthiest, you were made to love and be loved fully, and a mental diet that focuses on those values, and lives them out, will fill you like nothing else.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Good word...

Charlie's Church of Christ said...

I think some churches try to have the coolest auditorium, lighting, music, etc but as you say it isn't a competition in the kingdom where the first is the last. Its so easy to buy the lie.