The Nicest Thing My Mom Ever Told Me
“We are all tempted to find our life within the
destructive deception that all creation exists for us.”
We all have moments from our childhood that stick with us for the rest of our lives.
These moments shape and form us in important ways, which is why they have such a lasting effect on us as human beings. Life lessons arise suddenly out of the ordinary and mundane moments we find ourselves in each and every day. For me, one such moment happened on an ordinary day early on in my life. I don’t remember where I was, what I was doing, or who else was with me and my mom. All I remember is that I was acting as young children tend to act from time to time, and my mom said something to me that has stayed in my head ever since. She looked at me, and lovingly (but firmly) told me, “The world does not revolve around you”.
I wasn’t that old when this happened, but I was old enough to realize that with one sentence, my mother had cut through whatever external behavior issues were happening and gotten to the source of my problem. The words stunned me, not because they were harsh, or mean, or loud. They stunned me because they were true. And not only are they true for me, they are true for each and every human being. We are all tempted to find our life within the destructive deception that all creation exists for us.
When Jesus showed up on the scene, he too began saying things that stunned those who heard them. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”, and “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it” (Mark 1:15 and Luke 9:23-24). These sayings were stunning because in effect Jesus was saying that the world does revolve around him, and we need to bring our lives in line with that reality.
As followers of Jesus, we must not forget the fact that Jesus calls us to “deny ourselves and take up our cross daily…”. That deceptive and destructive fantasy world in which we are the center has a gravitational pull that we must break free from each and every day – how can we do this? Only by the grace of God, of course, but as we consistently and obediently deny ourselves so that we may live to God, we actually open ourselves up to the transforming grace of God in our lives.
This is why Jesus went on to say in Luke 9, “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it”. As we stay the course in following Jesus and consistently deny ourselves so that we may follow him, we begin to experience life change and transformation.
So don’t lose heart as you face trials and temptations day by day, Jesus said that it would be so! Instead, remind yourself that you are walking by faith and not by what you see or feel. Trust that the consistent turning away from “The world revolves around me” and turning to “The world revolves around Jesus” will produce fruit in our life over the long haul. The change into the kind of person Jesus calls you to be doesn’t happen in a couple ‘mountaintop’ moments, but over the course of day in and day out faithfulness. So this week, I pray you return to the simple disciplines of prayer, Bible reading, service, and so on with a renewed passion and vigor, remembering that these seemingly small and insignificant moments are changing you from the inside out.