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\u00a0<\/p>\n
Narcissism?<\/h2>\n
1 Corinthians 13:5b:<\/a> \u201cLove is not self-seeking.\u201d I\u2019m so sorry, but y<\/strong><\/em><\/span>ou <\/i><\/b>are not the center of the universe.<\/span><\/p>\n These days, it is so easy to get caught up in <\/span>me, me, me<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Second Timothy 3:1-5 (AMP)<\/a> reminds us that\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cin the last days, dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. For people will be <\/span><\/i>lovers of self<\/i><\/b> [<\/span><\/i>narcissistic<\/i><\/b>, <\/span><\/i>self-focused<\/i><\/b>], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. <\/span><\/i>Avoid such people and keep far away from them.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Timothy to give final instructions and encouragement. When speaking about what will happen in the last days, the first sign is that people will be \u201clovers of self.\u201d <\/span>Tanicia Prioleau<\/span><\/a> addresses Christian self-centeredness in her article \u201cThe Christian Narcissist.\u201d So how does one, especially a Christian, arrive at that point? Maybe the seeds are planted early in life.<\/span><\/p>\n Consider a new-born baby. To Mama and Daddy, that child is often the metaphorical \u201ccenter of the universe,\u201d as he should be. But have you ever stopped to imagine how life looks to that baby? On his back in the crib or playpen, faces move in and out of his developing line of vision. They are the faces that arrive to fill all needs, to offer love, to <\/span>cooooo <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>ahhhhh. <\/span><\/i>When his needs are met and\/or attention time over, the faces ease out of view. It must seem to the child that he is literally the center of the universe, because everything else he perceives rotates around his physical presence.<\/span><\/p>\n Even as a toddler, the child falls, and someone runs to help; she cries, and someone comes to attend; he smiles and others smile back..<\/span><\/p>\n A little older and the child begins to realize that she can manipulate her environment and the people in it. \u201cI want, I do something to get\u201d\u2013either cry, ask, whine, try to grab\u2013and this gets the attention of someone, for good or ill.<\/span><\/p>\n This is all the business of being a small child. Is it any wonder that children believe themselves to be the \u201ccenter of the universe\u201d? They are literally taught to think that \u2026 and that\u2019s normal for a small child. There is a problem if a fourteen-year-old is still acting that way; or a twenty-year-old. You understand.<\/span><\/p>\n There is a point when a person must grow up. Even <\/span>most<\/span><\/i> individuals with extreme physical or mental challenges come to the realization that not everything is about them.<\/span><\/p>\n I Corinthians 13:10-12<\/a> <\/b>reminds us that \u201cwhen completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Certainly, parents need to encourage responsibility and accountability in their children. Hopefully teachers, pastors, coaches, family members, and friends also support a movement toward maturity. It goes without saying that this doesn\u2019t mean the individual is less loved. It\u2019s just that God does not create us to stay babies.<\/span><\/p>\n There are times in life when we all face calamity, discouragement, depression, or feelings of impotence, fear, and failure. It is so easy in those moments to yearn to revert to those days when we were \u201cthe center of the universe\u201d and become self-seeking and demanding, and to become bitter when we are not served. Our needs may not be met immediately, and there is a difference between a need<\/em> and a want<\/em>.\u00a0 However, we aren\u2019t left to remain 100% dependent. We are not forced to face our trials alone. A network of family and friends is important, but even when we feel we can\u2019t turn to anyone else, we have Christ who does understand. He won\u2019t take you back to the crib, but He will take your hand and\u00a0 lead you forward.<\/span><\/p>\n 1 Corinthians 13 <\/b>ends with the declaration that \u201cnow these three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. Why love?<\/span><\/p>\n Faith <\/span><\/i>focuses on the <\/span>unseen provider to meet <\/span><\/i>my <\/i><\/b>need<\/span><\/i>: \u201cNow faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen\u201d (Hebrews 11:1)<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hope <\/span><\/i>focuses on What God has promised <\/span>me<\/i><\/b>\u2013<\/span>His <\/span><\/i>strength; <\/span>His <\/span><\/i>faithfulness.<\/span><\/p>\n Love, <\/span><\/i>however, does not seek a result for <\/span>me<\/i><\/b>. Love focuses outward on another, not inward on self.<\/span><\/p>\n Not a reprimand, but the truth to combat deceptive feelings: I can say it no better than scripture:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil\u201d (Hebrews 5:13-14<\/a>)..<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ\u201d (Philippians 1:9-1<\/a>0).<\/span><\/p>\nTraining the New-Born Babe<\/h2>\n
Growing Up<\/h2>\n
Faith, Hope, and Love<\/h2>\n
You Are Not the Center of the Universe<\/h2>\n
(but You are Loved by the One Who Is)<\/h2>\n