Love of Self...

Again, as per my previous post, this is something that I believe effects everyone. We all do it, We are all guilty of it and we are all struggling to even deal with it.....All except for one that is...God!

Love of self.
This whole idea of loving yourself is totally misunderstood and it is also a prime cause of anger in our lives. Anger...A subject that I struggle with on a daily basis, so my study on this topic is really going to start paying off, I hope :)

We are so concentrated on what WE feel, what WE think, who is insulting US, who is criticizing US,. How dare someone cut us off in the traffic. How dare they deliberately push us off the road or push in the queue at the shop. It drives me insane, I cant handle it. I take it as a direct insult that a person couldn't care less about me or anyone else in the world and what gives them the right to put themselves forward before others?
I get so angry when things don't work out the way I want them to.
These things above all lead to anger. Most of the time, anger is derived from not getting our way in something, or if we feel that someone has directly gone against what WE believe is right.
Let me take another angle here. When we get married, we marry someone because we believe that they are the right person for US, for US to be with and love, for US to be happy. Its self centered-ness.
We are told in the Word of God to "die to self". This means, in plain terms, to stop thinking about what we want, and start thinking about other people and what they like, need, want etc.
Did anyone get married because it makes the other person happy? No, we get married because it makes us happy!
When someone cuts us off in traffic, turns in front of us, just stops in the middle of road without any warning....straight away we take it that they are doing to annoy us or to get back at us, whereas maybe they have just returned from hospital and they have received bad news an their mind is not on the road (it happen to all of us). They are most probably not driving like an idiot to upset you specifically, but because of another reason.
Is there any point getting upset and angry? (Here I am the one kicking and screaming because this is exactly what I do, get angry over a situation like this).

It takes so much energy getting upset over things that concern ourselves.
Instead of thinking about ourselves, think about others. Die to self, concentrate on others. "Well who will look after me?" you may ask.
God has got you covered! He will watch your back!
If you die to yourself and concentrate on what God wants us to do, how to react to others and in situations, the ungodly anger that we have will fall away.

Yes, God gave us the anger emotion, but it should be used against all things evil, and not each other. Anger should be used in the spiritual realm, not in the physical realm.
Look, if someone tries to steal from me or break into my house, I will certainly get angry and defend myself, but this is not an unhealthy and ungodly anger!

Concentrating on others will bring so many riches. Not thinking how to create situations that will keep you happy or by getting angry over something that is.

This will have to be a huge life change from me. Everything I have written above is because its things I do and feel and react to, but I guess that I am not the only one who gets angry about these things.

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Luke 9:23 - And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Galatians 5:24 - And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Mark 8:35 - For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

 

Smile and wave!

Blessings!