MY Life
Treatment for En-SELF-alitis
by David Jeremiah

Introspection and insecurity can lead to a spiritual illness called the ME-Virus. But, before I give you the symptoms, I want to give you the cure. This prescription will inoculate you for life:

"Perform 3-5 acts daily of humble service that contribute to the happiness and well-being of others."

In the realm of our thought life, our attitudes and convictions take shape. The ancients referred to the inner realm as the "heart": "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). Jesus said "from within, out of the heart of men" proceed the things that defile (or edify) (Mark 7:17-23).

Proverbs 23:7 confirms that a person's thoughts indicate who he or she really is: "For as he thinks within himself, so he is." The apostle Paul, using the more refined Greek concepts of separating the body, mind, spirit, and soul said that spiritual transformation takes place "by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2).

Biological viruses can do their work anywhere in the body that the bloodstream carries them. But the virus that results in a preoccupation with self and a failure to serve others- the ME-Virus-lodges in the mind. From there, it convinces the person that his chief mission in life is looking out for "Numero Uno." Eventually that person becomes self-serving, a person who looks out more (or exclusively) for his own needs than the needs of others (the opposite of the admonition in Philippians 2:3-4).

When the Me-Virus lodges in the mind, a terrible condition results.

Spiritual En-SELF-alitis
Symptoms of en-SELF-alitis caused by the ME-Virus are weakness, confusion, and aversion to light.

• Weakness. The Bible is filled with examples of weakness when an attempt is made to serve self and serve God at the same time. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. . . . God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). He also said that a house built on anything other than devotion to God's teachings will crumble in weakness when the storms of life assail it (Matthew 7:24-27).

When the symptom of spiritual weakness appears in your life, you may want to look for evidence of the ME-Virus. Who are you serving? Self or the Savior?

• Confusion. The Bible could not be more clear about the connection between spiritual confusion and the ME-Virus. Scripture says that "God is not the author of confusion but of peace" (1 Corinthians 14:33). James says: "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there" (James 3:16).

The ME-Virus results in self-seeking, and self-seeking leads to confusion. Whom are you seeking? Self or the Savior?

• Aversion to the Light. Sufferers of physical encephalitis are comforted by keeping the room dark; sufferers of spiritual en-SELF-alitis are comforted by shutting out the light of God's truth. God is pure light-"in Him [there] is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Christ was clear about our spiritual priorities: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness . . ." (Matthew 6:33). No person who wants to serve self first will be happy to be around the light of God's truth that tells him to serve God first-plain and simple.

If you have an aversion to the light of God's truth-not interested in Bible study, no time to pray, consistently find reasons not to attend corporate worship-you may be infected with the ME-Virus. To whom are you submitting? Self or the Savior?

You Gotta Serve Somebody
Everybody serves somebody or something. And biblically speaking, if you're not serving the Savior, you're serving Satan since he's the one who encourages and energizes our human egos to serve ourselves.

Service is the antidote to self-centeredness. If you want to protect yourself from the dreaded ME-Virus . . . if you want to avoid the agony of en-SELF-alitis, begin today to serve God by serving others. Three to five (or more!) acts of humble service on behalf of others each day will conform you to the image of the least self-serving person in history: Jesus Christ, who came to seek, save, and serve all who are lost.

Saturday, November 15, 2008