Everyone agrees that we need a right relationship with oneself, not everyone agrees on how it happens.
In fact, the world says the secret to being rightly related to self is through self-esteem, self-worth, and self-image. The Bible says, “I must decrease and Christ must increase.” (John 3:30)
Being in a right relationship with self will never come from within you; it comes from above you! It is “”Christ in you” that gives meaning to life. Without Christ, life means nothing.
Once you are rightly related to God then you can become rightly related to you. Until your relationship with God gets right your relationship with you will always be wrong!
When you begin to see yourself as “in Christ” everything about the way you relate to you changes. Your worth is found in who you are in Christ. Your esteem is not limited to how you see you, but rather how God sees you. Your image is being transformed into the image of Christ.
In a nutshell, the best way to be rightly related to you is to do away with you! Paul said it like this in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
As you begin to live a crucified life you will discover how it helps you relate better to others. When you have died to yourself you will find it much easier to be rightly related to the people around you.
The story is told of a missionary who was headed to live with and minister to a savage tribe. Someone said, “you will not come back; you will die.” The missionary responded, “I am already dead!”
This missionary has discovered the key to living in right relationships. He is rightly related to himself and others because he is allowing Christ to live through him. The best way to be rightly related to you is to have less of you and more of Jesus in you!
Ask yourself this—is Christ increasing while you decrease?
