Volume No. 2008 Issue No. 21 Date: August 17, 2008
Publication of the BIBLE BAPTIST MINISTRY, 48 Alexie Rd, Hanover Township, PA 18706
Phone: 570.829.5216 pdmikBBM@aol.com pastormiklas@aol.com
1. Self-pity looks at what you cannot do, not at what you can do. Self-pity says, “Do you see what I lost?” Self-pity keeps you focused on what is unfixable, irretrievable, broken beyond repair, unrecoverable, broken without remedy and gone forever. You cannot survive looking at what is lost; you must look at all there is to gain! Instead of living in the land of regret over what is gone, look instead at what you do have. You still have plenty to accomplish in life that is worthy of living, worthy of pursuing.
2. Self-pity is the love of self more than the love of others. By taking yourself out of the center of your universe, you can look to the needs of others, and then your hurts will seem trivial in comparison.
3. Self-pity is not altered by a change in circumstances. In the midst of self-pity it is not wise to change your job or leave your family for another family, or even change a church which is sometimes the case, or seek worldly pleasure in the pursuit of happiness. The only way to alter your feelings about difficult circumstances is by appropriating the grace of God.
4. Self-pity is a contradiction of Romans 8:28. Self-pity says that God is not big enough to give you sufficient grace for the problems you are facing.
So what then is the cure for self-pity? Here are three ways to get a handle on this problem.
First: Have Faith. In I Peter 1:6, 7a we read, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though not for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness [depression] through manifold temptations [testing): That the trial of your faith…” Every problem we face is a test of the faith we have in the God Who is available to help us pass the test.
Second: Accept Grace. Is God big enough to give the Christian enough grace? Paul opened nine epistles with the words, “Grace be unto you.” He was saying that whatever comes in life, you can handle it. Grace has a tear streaming down its face and says, “God is able.” The grace of God was great enough to cancel out and forgive every sin on your record, so cirtainly the grace of God is big enough to handle any trial of your faith.
Third: Give Thanks. Faith and grace are formidable weapons to use against self-pity. However, the most powerful weapon in the Christian’s arsenal against self-pity is giving thanks. How can a person be thankful for all he has to face? I Thessalonians 5: 18 says, “In every thing give thanks.” The Bible does not say, “For every thing give thanks.” This principle is well illustrated by the three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were bound and thrown into the fiery furnace. At Nebuchadnezzar’s command, the furnace was heated seven times hotter-so hot that their executioners were devoured by the heat. When King Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, he was astonished and in Daniel 3:24-25 he said, “…Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?…Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Do you honestly think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thankful for the fiery furnace? Of course not! They were thankful in the fiery furnace because they were sustained in the presence of the Son of the living God. The deeper our problems, the more severe our calamity and injury, the more present our God is for us who as Psalm 46:1 reads is “…a very present help in trouble.”
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