Self-love or Self-hatred?
Dear Believer,
It may appear that self-love and self-hate are so different they can’t possibly be linked. They are polar opposites, right? Yet when you look deeper into each of them, you realise they both stem from the same place and share the same qualities. The commonality is so obvious sometimes it’s missed. They both are rooted in one thing - self.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
Matthew 16:24 NKJV
It seems, from Jesus’ point of view, we are to deny both self-love and self-hatred. To deny the self is to neither hate nor love oneself but to lose oneself or exchange oneself for another.
Take a look at this promise.
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”
Luke 9:24 NKJV
Think about this scripture this way. Look at it as a kind of suicide without losing your body. One of the laws of God states that you and I must have a body to live on this earth. Once you or I physically die, we can’t live on planet Earth. In this case, Jesus refers to deciding to end your life, but instead of physical suicide, you and I exchange our lives for the life of Jesus while keeping the same body. That’s the conditions of total surrender, loss of self.
Total surrender is not about quitting or changing behavior as much as it is about manifesting the life of Jesus through our lives. Every sin is connected to an evil spirit. Alcohol is connected and directed by an evil spirit. Sexual sin is also connected and directed by an evil spirit. When our lives are connected and directed by Holy Spirit then we are no longer controlled or bound by those unwanted spirits. Since you and I are believers and we contain God’s Spirit we truly do not want these evil spirits ruling our lives. But only you can choose to walk in the Holy Spirt. When you choose to walk in the Spirit, the evil spirits cannot control, coerce, or manipulate you.
The good news is that we were never designed to strive or “try harder” to resist these evil spirits. We were designed to walk out our lives being influenced, controlled, guided, and filled with Holy Spirit. It should never be about surrendering to “Alcohol free or Sex free” but about surrendering to the leadership, the voice, and the will of God’s Spirit within you. This comes only from an intimate relationship with Jesus.
Look at this other promise.
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NKJV
So, according to the scripture above, you intimately enter into a mystical union and agreement with Jesus, the Christ. The life that you live in your body is no longer a self-life, but Jesus, through His Spirit, lives in and through you. You no longer live in self-love or self-hatred but you live by faith. Faith in what? Faith in the fact that God is inside of you and it is His goal to live His life through your life.
In order for this to take place, you and I must surrender our self life (self-love, self-hatred, self confidence, self-esteem, etc.) and exchange it for His life. When this takes place every moment is no longer a choice between self-love or self- hatred, but a choice of a Spirit-filled life verses a self directed life.
Now look at this precious promise.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1 NKJV
A life that is free from condemnation is a life that is free from walking in the flesh (self). This condemnation free life is a result of Holy Spirit living in you and through you. In a pure sense, your life becomes characterized by a complete immersion and integration of Holy Spirit life and your life.
Open up your heart and meditate on these things. I believe when you “catch” this in your spirit-man you will never be the same. You will no longer struggle with identity or addiction, but your life will flow in freedom and love. You will truly Love God and Love all People!”
By His Amazing Revelation,
Dr. Daniel LeBlanc
