RELIGION —
“The best version of yourself” is a phrase that’s worked its way into just about every corner of our culture. I think it’s fair to say it is one of the mantras of today’s generation — if not the mantra. One of the things I appreciate about these words is how they express an unwillingness to settle for less than what we can be. That’s a God-honoring concept. As someone said, “Jesus didn’t come to convict us of our sins, but to convince of our possibilities,” and this phrase reflects that.
The gospels tell us of a person who asked Jesus about the most important thing they could do. Christ told him it was to love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love his neighbor as himself. With these words, Jesus was certainly zeroing in on how to be the best version of yourself.
But He didn’t say it exactly that way, did He? Instead of talking about self, He talked about God and others. In fact, the only mention of self had to do with instructing us on how to love others.
I think there is great significance in the way He chose to frame His answer.
It’s the default setting of most of us to over-focus on self. We don’t have to make any effort; it just comes naturally. And we certainly live in a world that encourages this (we are exposed to endless selfies, ceaseless celebrities who are the epitome of self-absorption, etc.).
What if the way to being the best version of ourselves was to quit focusing on self?
What if it was to put God first, others next and ourselves last? I’m not talking about failing to love ourselves and neither was Jesus because He spoke about loving others as we love ourselves. I am suggesting the way to truly love ourselves is by doing what Jesus said and focusing on God and others rather than ourselves.
Maybe that sounds counterintuitive but it’s actually paradoxical. Jesus spoke of finding our life by losing it. He said, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24).
It takes some faith to accept this and adopt it as a way of life — and that’s exactly the point. Millions of people have found life through giving it up. They made the decision to put their faith in Jesus and His teaching.
Who or what are you putting your faith in?
You can find more of Green’s writings at his website: a-taste-of-grace-with-bruce-green.com