MORNING THOUGHTS ☕️: Last night, a line in a book I’m reading really jumped out at me. Oh, and by the way, this book is GOOOOD. It’s John Piper’s: “Don’t Waste Your Life.” I mean good. This is the cover:

Anyway…here’s the quote:

“Making SELF the object of our highest affections is not best for us. It is, in fact, a lethal distraction.”

LETHAL: causing great harm or destruction; deadly.

The world has told us to put ourselves first. God says put ourselves last. The world says ‘find yourself’. God says ‘lose yourself’.

An example Piper gave was that to make people feel good about themselves when they were made to feel good about God is like taking someone to the Alps but locking him in a room full of mirrors.

Gosh. We’re missing the forest for the trees. Self. Self. Self. It’s been a strategy to take our eyes OFF of what’s true and real and lovely and far greater than anything we can conjure up.

This is NOT self-deprecating. Duh. He made us in HIS image. He loves us beyond our wildest comprehension. He wants us to HONOR and LOVE what He loves. Religiosity would have us go to an extreme of almost self-hate (and, religion keeps our eyes focused on ourselves equally as much as the world does).

This isn’t that.

This is about ORDER. A healthy understanding of what’s what, who’s who, and where we would do well to set our affections. It will take a concerted effort in this day we live in and the messages we are constantly bombarded with…but I promise you, this is a KEY to true life and joy. Believe me, I know.

Xox.eb