Perhaps the most insidious lie of Satan today!

The gospel of today has been perverted with the gospel of self-esteem. Today we tell each other “think well of yourself”, “you are OK”, “you can do anything”, “you must love yourself first”, and other such lies. Even from pulpits these lies abound, sometimes proclaimed directly, sometimes hidden under layers of justification. All in an attempt to make us feel good about ourselves, build confidence, improve self image.

But, wait! Jesus says that the secret is the opposite! It is in realization of utter guilt, shame, blackness that we find peace through forgiveness. This woman was honest with herself, she knew how wrong she was. She humbled herself at Jesus feet out of a HEALTHY self image of a lowly sinner worthy of nothing but death. And that is where she found peace.

The wages of sin is death.

We have sinned.

We deserve death.

That is the beginning of wisdom! In realizing that we are nothing, we deserve nothing, there we find the amazing grace! The joy of redemption! Freedom from anxiety and worry! And, according to Jesus, this is where we grow love for God.

Next time you sing those hymns of old, consider the words.

Amazing grace … That saved a wretch like me

Nothing but the blood…

I once was lost..

Though my sins be as scarlet…

And on and on… That is a healthy self image! Humans are a broken, sinful, vile, wretched lot, all of us! We deserve death! But.. God chose to pay that debt, out of an act of pure free love. We don’t deserve it, none of it!

You see, in realizing our hopeless position, in seeing our darkness and worthlessness, only then we see the depth of God’s love! Only then do we understand the gift we are given. Only then do we love God more than self.

Satan would have us love ourselves. He is still touting the lie that “you will not die, you will be like God!” That’s where it started, death and suffering. It started with man thinking he would create his own worth, he could be like God. Are we going to continue such foolishness today?

Jesus said here that when we realize how much we have been forgiven, then we will love God. If we minimize that depth of blackness within ourselves with words of a “good self image”, we destroy love for God! We set ourselves up for ultimate failure by repeating that scene from the garden in our own life. It doesn’t work!

We deserve death.

We are granted life.

That is love.

We have no self worth, we have Jesus worth!