We Need Less Self-Centeredness and More Self-Love

Reflections by Maxie Dunnam

Do you remember Narcissus, the character from Greek mythology? Narcissus was a youth who was gazing at his reflection in a well one day. The more he stared, the more enamored of himself he became. He fell in love with himself, forgot about everything else, tumbled into the water and drowned.

I maintain that was not self love – certainly not in the healthy sense of that word. It was self-centeredness, and that is always destructive. We could all do with less self-centeredness. Life will never work very well on that basis. The world was created to function in a God-centered way and nothing will work out very well until we understand that and cooperate with that. 

One day Lady Astor said to Winston Churchill, “Mr. Churchill, if I were your wife I’d poison your tea.” He replied, “Madam, if I were your husband, I should drink it.”

There are always people around who will bring us down to size. What we need is to be brought up to size. That’s what Jesus is seeking to do… to bring us up to size. Can you believe it? God notes even the fall of sparrows, and we are more important than a sparrow. What a powerful way He put it “Even the hairs on your head are all counted?”

We don’t have to worry if we know that we are important to God.