A Four-Letter Word

A FOUR-LETTER WORD

I don't know about you, but there are two four-letter words which I try to avoid using at all costs - iron and dust!

But, now to be more serious, we have all heard the expression "four-letter words" and know that not only are they rude and crude, they are not honoring to God and not the kind of language that should be coming out of the mouth of a child of God. Look at Matthew 12:34, "...for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Our words should exhibit love, patience, praise, and joy. If we are truly His children and walking with Him, our hearts should be overflowing with thee things.

So, we can all agree that those particular four-letter words have no place in our thoughts or on our lips. But there is another four-letter word that, of late, I am most concerned about in my life and in many others I know and that word is SELF.

We live in the "me first" generation, and are absolutely drowning in songs, advertising, television and movies, etc. that glorify self and fulfillment of selfish desires. Our entire culture seems based on self-gratification. We hear of men and women arrested for various crimes, some of them violent, who, when asked why they did it, say things like "I wanted the sneakers or jacket the person was wearing," or "I was disrespected," or "they cut ME off while I was driving." You get my point. It's not really about the other person; it's about ME. Our children hear all about self-realization in school and college classrooms. We hear all about asserting OUR rights, demanding what is owed to US, and generally saying to anyone who will listen that WE are entitled to some particular benefit or privilege.

But it is not about ME. It is about God. What He wants to do in my life; how He can use me to serve and glorify Him. The glory belongs to God; I have nothing to do with it, except to act as I know I should as a child of the Heavenly Father.

Remember with me those verses in Isaiah 14:12-14 where Satan commits the ultimate act of prideful self and asserts that he is equal with God, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH GOD."

How easy it is for us to fall into the SELF trap. I find myself thinking or saying things like "that really doesn't work for me today" or "I want to do this because I need to do something nice for myself." And because it is so pervasive around us, we don't think twice about saying it. But I find that the more I focus on SELF, the less I focus on God and my service to others.

I remember a little saying I learned as a child in Sunday school. It says if you want joy
J - Jesus first
O - Others second
Y - You last

So use the three-letter word JOY to help you conquer the four-letter word, SELF.

Lynn Randall