I must at all times maintain the delicate balance of attitudes toward my “self.” I must respect and love myself without becoming egocentric, for egocentricity is sin. Why not love myself? There is nothing wrong with self—as self. Jesus died for me, myself, and He did so because He loved me, that is, myself. Self becomes a problem only when I allow it to become self first, when it becomes preoccupied with itself, when it wants the attention and worship that are due only to God.
I cannot be truly joyful if I am not at peace with myself. I do incalculable harm to my personality if I hate, despise, and reject myself. The gospel that enables me to love others also enables me to love and accept myself. To be crucified with Christ does not mean that the self literally dies. It simply means that I must always die to my own desires if they conflict with the will of Christ or run counter to the well-being of others. When I surrender my will to Jesus Christ, I am doing the very opposite of bruising or afflicting myself; I am freeing myself to be the kind of person God intended me to be.
I must not delight in self-punishment, as if it were a virtue. It is not true that the more I suffer, the more God is glorified. Of course I must realize that my natural born self is permeated with sin, a legacy from Adam; but God’s redemptive purpose for me is to rescue me from sin, not to destroy me with sin. Spiritual victory is the proper relationship of these three things: to love God first and seek His glory; to love my fellow men and seek their highest good; and to love myself and seek my highest ex- pression in company with God.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18).
Daily with the King 