I promise I'll be back to the fun, positive things soon. :)
My bff and I went to a Flylady conference last weekend. We actually only stayed through lunch. We had a wedding to get to, plus we didn't feel comfortable in the environment. Why, you ask? Well, that is the reason for this blog entry!
If you've seen my recent post on conformity, this is kind of similar. There is so much I could say, but I will focus on one thing, the title of the post, Finally Loving Yourself.
That is the acronym that someone made up for Flylady. It sounds good! We should take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others. We cannot love others if we do not love ourselves first.
Now don't misunderstand me, I am not saying we shouldn't love ourselves and take care of our bodies, but it sounds so completely selfish to me! Is this really what the Bible says we are to do?
Matthew 22 says - 36-"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37-And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38-This is the great and first commandment. 39-And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40-On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
Luke 10 says - 27-And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
And Mark 12 says - 30-And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31-The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."--
So first of all we are to love God above all others. Secondly we are to love others as we love ourselves. Let's all admit, we really love ourselves! We may hate a couple of things about our bodies, but if we are completely honest, we love ourselves. That is why we feel we "deserve" certain things in life and why we need a lot of "me time". I'm not saying that is bad....it is sometimes necessary because we DO need to take care of ourselves. But are we really loving others as much as ourselves, and relating to the acronym for FLY, are we supposed to love ourselves to the point of being selfish and getting divorced simply because we're not happy?!
My problem comes in when Flylady and others (most of the world!) have the mentality that they can do whatever makes them happy because God wants them to be happy, so it doesn't really matter if it is wrong or selfish.
An example, straight from her mouth, is that she was not happy with her first husband. He couldn't laugh with her, so she decided it was okay to divorce him since "God wants her to be happy." Yes, God wants us to be happy, but He also HATES divorce! And I have seen many times how He can heal the worst of marriages if He is given a chance! Malachi 2:16 - "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith,... The next verse goes on to say that we have wearied the LORD by saying that those who do evil are good. Don't we do that now? Don't we always refer to people as "good people" regardless of the sin in their lives? And our own? I'm sure we all think we are "good" ourselves!
The Truth is that we should not worry about ourselves or what others think of us. Yes, God wants us to be happy, but not to the point that we are living in sin. Instead of focusing on the world's concept of loving ourselves and making sure we and our children have good "self-esteem", let's do it God's way instead.
What? Self-esteem is wrong? Ha! I believe it is! It is very self-seeking!
What we need to focus on is *God-esteem*. We need to only be concerned with what God thinks about us. And trust me, if you can get to that point, your life will be great! I know who I am in Christ and that He loves me unconditionally and I am secure in Him! Nothing else matters! I need to take care of my body just so that I can take care of others and to glorify God, but not so that I can wear a certain dress size!
I was really saddened by Flylady's conference, to see how humanism has affected so many so-called Christians to where they think that selfishness is okay based solely on the fact that God wants us to be happy. That's like saying I can eat brownies all day and be 120 pounds because I want to! Well, isn't it wrong to eat brownies all day? Is it realistic that I would actually weigh 120 pounds eating brownies all day?
I hope I've gotten my point across. I am just rambling as my thoughts are all crammed up in my head. LOL! I do want to say that I love the cleaning system that Flylady has created! If it is followed, it really works! Just keep your guard up against humanistic views that seem good on the surface, but they don't always honor God.
My bff and I went to a Flylady conference last weekend. We actually only stayed through lunch. We had a wedding to get to, plus we didn't feel comfortable in the environment. Why, you ask? Well, that is the reason for this blog entry!
If you've seen my recent post on conformity, this is kind of similar. There is so much I could say, but I will focus on one thing, the title of the post, Finally Loving Yourself.
That is the acronym that someone made up for Flylady. It sounds good! We should take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others. We cannot love others if we do not love ourselves first.
Now don't misunderstand me, I am not saying we shouldn't love ourselves and take care of our bodies, but it sounds so completely selfish to me! Is this really what the Bible says we are to do?
Matthew 22 says - 36-"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37-And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38-This is the great and first commandment. 39-And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40-On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
Luke 10 says - 27-And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
And Mark 12 says - 30-And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31-The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."--
So first of all we are to love God above all others. Secondly we are to love others as we love ourselves. Let's all admit, we really love ourselves! We may hate a couple of things about our bodies, but if we are completely honest, we love ourselves. That is why we feel we "deserve" certain things in life and why we need a lot of "me time". I'm not saying that is bad....it is sometimes necessary because we DO need to take care of ourselves. But are we really loving others as much as ourselves, and relating to the acronym for FLY, are we supposed to love ourselves to the point of being selfish and getting divorced simply because we're not happy?!
My problem comes in when Flylady and others (most of the world!) have the mentality that they can do whatever makes them happy because God wants them to be happy, so it doesn't really matter if it is wrong or selfish.
An example, straight from her mouth, is that she was not happy with her first husband. He couldn't laugh with her, so she decided it was okay to divorce him since "God wants her to be happy." Yes, God wants us to be happy, but He also HATES divorce! And I have seen many times how He can heal the worst of marriages if He is given a chance! Malachi 2:16 - "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith,... The next verse goes on to say that we have wearied the LORD by saying that those who do evil are good. Don't we do that now? Don't we always refer to people as "good people" regardless of the sin in their lives? And our own? I'm sure we all think we are "good" ourselves!
The Truth is that we should not worry about ourselves or what others think of us. Yes, God wants us to be happy, but not to the point that we are living in sin. Instead of focusing on the world's concept of loving ourselves and making sure we and our children have good "self-esteem", let's do it God's way instead.
What? Self-esteem is wrong? Ha! I believe it is! It is very self-seeking!
What we need to focus on is *God-esteem*. We need to only be concerned with what God thinks about us. And trust me, if you can get to that point, your life will be great! I know who I am in Christ and that He loves me unconditionally and I am secure in Him! Nothing else matters! I need to take care of my body just so that I can take care of others and to glorify God, but not so that I can wear a certain dress size!
I was really saddened by Flylady's conference, to see how humanism has affected so many so-called Christians to where they think that selfishness is okay based solely on the fact that God wants us to be happy. That's like saying I can eat brownies all day and be 120 pounds because I want to! Well, isn't it wrong to eat brownies all day? Is it realistic that I would actually weigh 120 pounds eating brownies all day?
I hope I've gotten my point across. I am just rambling as my thoughts are all crammed up in my head. LOL! I do want to say that I love the cleaning system that Flylady has created! If it is followed, it really works! Just keep your guard up against humanistic views that seem good on the surface, but they don't always honor God.
Very good post. I know what you're trying to say and I agree.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand. When "loving self" causes us to not love others (like abortion or divorce) we have things very mixed up. And I'm not so sure God makes our happiness his priority. I think he give us JOY (which is not based on circumstances), but loving and serving others oftens means doing the things that we think we make us "un" happy. But if we lose our life, for Christ's sake - we gain it! Great post!
ReplyDeleteExactly! You said it much more eloquently than I, and in a shorter time too! LOL! Thanks!
ReplyDelete