episode
56
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Spiritual Wholeness

Am I Really Supposed to Die to Myself? Misconstrued Messages and How to Disentangle From Them

Episode Notes

We're hitting hard today on this question "Am I really supposed to die to myself?" So many have been encouraged to misapply the message of self-denial in ways that are not healthy. So what does the Bible really say about it?

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Here's what we cover:

1. What "deny yourself" really means

2. 3 different types of people

3. A surprising invitation

4. A practical exercise to apply to your own life

5. Your Questions: Healed vs. Saved

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Music by Andy Luiten

Sound editing by Kelly Kramarik

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Transcript

Alison: Hey, everyone, and welcome back to this week's episode of The Best of You Podcast. I'm so glad you're here for this series we're doing on – What Does the Bible Really Say? We're hitting some of these hard questions. Some of these messages we've been taught, while true, while biblical, can sometimes be misconstrued if we are not understanding them in their appropriate context. 

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Both historically, their historical context, and, also, in the context in which these messages land today. And we're going to get into more about this idea of context in today's episode, which is all about this question, Am I really supposed to deny myself? And it's such a great question. Especially in our modern culture, especially in our modern American culture, where there's so much excess. There's so much get what you want, when you want it, right when you want it type of living. 

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There's so much emphasis on the self, which is something that I think a lot about. Because as a psychologist, as a therapist, everything I do I am focused on healing the self. However, I'm always holding that intention with the God who made us. 

So we heal ourselves in relationship with the God who made us, and we do that work of healing the self, not so that we can live for the self, for ourselves. We do that work so that we can live from the truest, most beautiful, God-made part of ourselves.

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So, again, we don't do this so that we can live for ourselves. We do this so that we can live more fully, more holy from ourselves. And by that I mean the truest, most beautiful version of your image-bearing self. This is all rooted in that theology of Imago Dei, which means, in Latin, "Image of God." We bear the image of God. And you'll hear me say this time and time again, I'll speak of us as image bearers. 

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It originates from Genesis 1:27 in the Bible, which says, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them." This verse shows the orthodox Christian viewpoint that human beings, men and women, alike, are created in the image and likeness of God. 

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We possess inherent dignity, inherent worth, and a special connection to the divine in a way. There's something really unique about what it means to be made in the image of God. 

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So what is significant about being made in the image of God? 

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Number one, it gives us inherent dignity and worth as humans. Every human life, every person, that you meet bears the image of God. And if you think about that, it really changes how you view people. Now, again, it doesn't mean that there are people who are, systematically, seeking to cover over their image of Godness. Are, systematically, denying their image of Godness through their toxic behaviors. We still have free will. We still have choice. But the truth is there is that spark, there is that image of God in every single human soul. 

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One of the things I think a lot about in my own life, since I was a little kid, is one of the areas where I see beauty is through other people. I see a reflection of God in the souls of other people. That's part of what draws me to my work, as a therapist, as a psychologist, someone who studies the human psyche, is the more I get to know a human soul and how intricate it is, how unique it is, how complex it is, how beautiful it is, the more I see glimpses of God. 

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And, oftentimes, I feel similar to how other people feel when they go to an art museum and they behold the beauty of a piece of art. Or people who go into nature and they behold the beauty in a tree, or in a lake, or in these majestic mountains and these things declare the wonder of God. Because all of these things are reflections of the creativity of God. 

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Well, I see that so clearly in human individuals, and I've always seen it that way in my work as a therapist. No matter how broken a person is who comes to me. It is such a joy to get to sit with a fellow image bearer and help that person begin to uncover more and more of that uniqueness, that is a little glimpse, a little reflection, of God that that person was meant to shine forth in this world. 

We reflect who God is in this world which is incredibly amazing, and what an honor, and, also, a little bit scary. We better do a good job with that, because other people are going to project onto God what we show them about God.

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So it shows the inherent dignity and worth that we all have. The notion of imago dei also gives us a sense of moral responsibility. If we are made in the image of God, there's a certain capacity for moral reasoning, for wisdom, for discernment, for an ability to distinguish between right and wrong. And if you think about all the way back to the garden, to that first commandment that Adam and Eve broke, which was they were not to eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. 

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There's a way in which God was drawing a boundary. "You are fellow image bearers, but you do not want the full authority of what it means to know completely the difference between good and evil. That's a weight I don't want you to bear."

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There's an interesting boundary that God put there that He gave us the ability to distinguish right from wrong. To understand we have a conscience, we can be discerning, and there are also limits to that. That God put in place, in the garden, prior to Adam and Eve eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

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Some scholars think that God put that boundary there as a way of saying, "Listen, I've given you a special role, a special significance, a special creative ability. I have given you creative potential. I have given you stewardship and care." That's another thing that humans are given by God. They are given unique ability to steward and care for other created beings, for animals, for nature, for the environment, for the things around us. 

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With that boundary that God put around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there's a way in which God is setting a boundary by saying that, "I want you to stay in relationship with me. There is a limit on what you can do. And you can govern wisely, and you can govern well, and you can care for others, and care for yourself with a lot of complexity, and a lot of ownership, and a lot of authority, and, also, you must always stay in obedient, trusting, relationship with me. 

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You cannot have access to all the knowledge in the universe. You need to stay in relationship with me. That our discernment as humans, our ability to ascertain right from wrong, dark from light, goodness from what is evil, depends on our relationship with God. God is always the ultimate author of all truth, of all goodness, and we must stay constantly attached to Him in relationship to Him. We cannot go out on our own way and try to grasp at the ultimate, sort of cornucopia, of the ultimate knowledge of the universe. 

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If we go out on our own and try to do that without God, we are going to end up in trouble. We are going to end up in trouble, and that's why He put that boundary there, according to some scholars. 

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So while we have a lot of agency, a lot of creative power, a lot of authority, a lot of ability to steward, a lot of discernment, we must steward all of those gifts, constantly, by staying connected to and in partnership with the God who made us. 

And I say that, always, on this podcast, "With the one who made us." We do not go at this alone. We must always stay connected to that vine. 

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When you think of the metaphor that Jesus used of the vine and the branches, we are nothing if we are not connected to that living vine. As we go through our days trying to discern truth. Trying to discern, even in the midst of our day to day lives, "What do I need to do in this situation?"

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"What's the best path here in this parenting challenge?"

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"How am I to discern what's right from wrong, in this work situation?"

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"How am I to discern the best way to guide my child?"

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"How am I to discern the best way to steward this money?"

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"What's right, what's wrong? Where am I veering towards selfishness or toward deception?"

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"How do I align myself with what's right and with what's good?"

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In all of these situations we find ourselves in, it requires us to stay connected to the vine. There are no easy answers to most of those questions. It requires ongoing relationship. And, so, it's in that context of understanding this incredible gift that we have, that we are made in the image of God. We are image bearers; we are co-creators with Christ. 

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We are given the gift of being able to exert agency in our lives, to have a lot of freedom. To proceed with wisdom into our work, into our relationships. All those things are a gift of our free will, of our human autonomy, of what it means to be human. These are all beautiful things, and it's against that backdrop that I want to bring us now to this command that Jesus gives us, in Matthew 16:24, "That if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."

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The Psalmist in 139:14 says, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it well." So we have this backdrop that while we do have a fallen nature, while we do inherit the sin of Adam and Eve, eating of the fruit, we are also inherently worthy. We are inherently dignified by that state of being made in the image of God. So against that backdrop, now, we turn to this concept of self-denial. 

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So let's start by looking at what Jesus actually said. So Jesus said to deny yourself to follow Him. This comes from Matthew 16:24, and these are Jesus words, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." And then He goes on to say, "If someone wants to save their life, they must lose it. And if anyone loses their life for my sake, they will find it."

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So coming to this idea of context, it's first really important to understand the historical context of this passage. And I really appreciate theologian N.T. Wright and how he unpacks a lot of historical context, especially, in the New Testament. And, so, this is from his book Matthew for Everyone, which is a commentary on the Book of Matthew. But he talks about how Jesus is in the midst, in all of the gospels, of teaching His disciples a completely upside down way. 

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Jesus is really giving a nuanced teaching to the disciples here, where He's turning things upside down. 

Where there's this subtle tendency, and you can imagine if it was you, sometimes, I think about if Jesus were to come back today. In our humanness we'd be like, "Yes, finally, Jesus is going to vindicate me."

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There's a human ego in all of us, that is like, "When our Savior finally comes, when the Messiah finally comes." There's a little part of us, not all of us, but there's a little part of us that's like, "Finally, I'll be vindicated. Finally, Jesus will set me free." And we know what that means, but there are parts of us that see that as, "Maybe I'll get a little bit of vindication, finally, here on Earth." And we see that in a little bit of the disciples, as they were following Jesus. 

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They were a little bit confused about, "What does this mean to follow you?"

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"Does this mean we're, finally, going to get this vindication against our oppressive rulers?"

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"Does this mean that we're, finally, going to get our due? We've suffered for a really long time." And Jesus is always nuancing that in this upside down way. And it comes to a culmination, really, at this point, and following Jesus is actually going to cost you everything. And, yes, that's good news, in the long run, but in the short run, that might feel a lot like a death. 

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This is what N.T. Wrights says, "It's going to be like learning to swim. If you keep your feet on the bottom of the pool, you are never going to work it out. You have to lose your life to find it." And what Wright is saying is, if you're learning how to swim and you're keeping your fingernails there on the edge, or you're dragging your feet on the ground, you're never going to really learn how to swim. You got to take the plunge. You got to go all in and it's going to feel like you're drowning at first. 

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If you remember that feeling, I remember it very well, it feels terrifying. You're going under and, then, suddenly, you start to catch yourself. And, suddenly, you start to find your way, and, then, you're starting to get to that new way of being that you've longed for. 

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And, so, there's this real nuance to what Jesus is saying here, that "Following me might not be exactly what you think it's going to be. In fact, at first, it might feel hard. You might have to give up some things, you might have to change, and change is hard, and you might have to leave behind some of your old coping strategies. And you might have to leave behind some of your old grudges, and you might have to leave behind some of that ego. 

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But I promise you, if you let go, if you surrender, if you let go for that moment, I promise you, you're going to get the true life. The new life that you've been so desperately seeking." And this message is underscored in other parts of Scripture. 

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In John 12:24-25, Jesus talks about this process of dying to yourself like a grain of wheat. And here's the passage, he says, "Listen carefully, unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat." It just stays that grain. "But if it's buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real, and eternal." This is John 12:24-25, the Message version. 

So, similarly, to that learning how to swim, this grain of wheat, if you just hang on to that grain of wheat, it becomes nothing, it's meaningless. But if you let it go and you let it be buried in the ground; and it feels like a death, and it's dark, and it's scary, but that's how that seed actually sprouts and reproduces itself into something even more beautiful. 

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And, so, we need to remember that in light of these passages, denying yourself. This process of setting yourself aside, of letting yourself go, of dying to yourself. It's a process of letting go to those things you are clinging to that are actually keeping you from the person you were really meant to be, to unleashing more of that image of God. That beautiful reflection of God that's inside of you, that's inside that seed that has to crack open, that might feel like a death, in order for you to reveal even more goodness, more light, more beauty into the world around you. 

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Another passage where we see this John 1:11-12, where John says about following Jesus, these are John's words, "But whoever did want Him," meaning Jesus. "Whoever believed He was who He claimed and would do what He said, He made to be their true selves, their child of God, selves." John is saying that when you follow Jesus, believe in Him, enter into a trusting relationship with Him. 

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Where you walk in partnership with Him hand in hand, over time, it's not a static, once-and-done thing. It's a constant, ongoing, relationship, a companionship, a partnership, the best friendship, you will become even more of your true self, the beautiful soul that God made. And we know, from Jesus words, that this process can feel like death at times, like you are losing all that you've known. 

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"Really, Jesus? Really, you're my friend and you want me to walk through this?" Sometimes we don't understand why Jesus walks with us through dark valleys. Sometimes it doesn't feel like He wants what's best of us. But here's the promise; as we die to old ways, and we trust Jesus, and we don't let go of His hand. Even as we plunge ourselves into the depths of whatever it is that we face, we become more of the fierce, light-bearing people that God made us to become. 

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So now I want to get into psychological context. How do we interpret this message of denying ourselves, in light of everything we've just laid out? In light of the different psychological contexts we find ourselves in. And what I mean by that is the different realities of our experience, as humans, because this is a series on the Bible, we're going to be very Bible heavy in this episode. 

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I want to turn to this idea of how Jesus interacted with different types of people, in different psychological contexts. When Jesus walked the Earth, you could say He spent time with three different kinds of people living in three different contexts. The first were those who were suffering from illnesses beyond their control. 

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Now, some of these might have been mental illnesses, some of them were medical illnesses. Some of them were spiritualized, in the sense that they were interpreted at the time as demon possession. Maybe they were demon possession, it might be that they put that name on things that we might describe in psychological terms. Either way, the reality is He interacted with these people suffering in a very unique way. 

He gave the sick and the suffering special care. Jesus didn't blame the suffering nor did He marginalize them. There are so many stories, and I'll list all of these in the show notes. 

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But there's so many instances where Jesus encouraged those who were suffering. Where He helped them and He treated them with respect. In many cases, He healed them. And what's so interesting is that in each of these cases, Jesus asked the person who was sick or who was suffering to take an active part in their process of being healed. "Get up, take your mat, and go home." He says in Mark 2:11.

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"Go back home, your son will live." In John 4:50.

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"Go wash yourself in the pool." John 9:7.

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He empowers them to move out into their lives, He gives them a job to do. He does not blame the sick, nor does He marginalize them. In fact, it's the opposite, He welcomes them and gives them a role. 

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Now, I want you to think about this in the context of what it means to deny yourself. In these cases, when Jesus is approaching those who are sick or suffering in ways that are beyond their control, and of no fault of their own. He is not saying to them, "You need to get over yourselves." He is inviting them in to a process of healing. He's empowering them to take agency in their life.

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Now, the second type of person that Jesus encounters are those who you might describe as sinning, those who are straying. He interacts, frequently, with those who would have been labeled as sinners, in His day. Adulterers, rebels, prostitutes, tax collectors, et cetera. And here's the thing, when the religious leaders criticized Jesus for being friends with these people, Jesus rebuked them, and in fact chose to prioritize his time with folks that the legalists of His day didn't really like.

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It's notably to a woman four times divorced and from Samaria, a place that was not esteemed very highly, whom Jesus honored by disclosing His true identity. He tells the woman at the well, "I am the Messiah." In John 4:25, this is a really big reveal. Jesus befriended sinners, He forgave them, and He also called them to change. "Neither do I condemn them, go now and leave your life of sin." He says in John eight through 11. He empowers them to go out and live a changed life. 

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And, then, lastly, Jesus interacts with those we might describe as sanctimonious, the legalists of His day. These were the folks who were quick to speak out against others, and who thought they had it all together. They had it right. They were following the law, they were moral, they were the ones living by the law. 

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But Jesus took a different approach with these folks. He was actually harsh with them, at times. He accused them of being more concerned about their appearance than their character on the inside. He would say to them, "You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and self-indulgence."

Those who were quick to speak up against others were taken down a peg or two by Jesus. Those who cried out for help, when everyone around despised them, were lifted up. Now, I want you to think about these three different contexts, in light of what it means to deny yourself. Where do you find yourself in these three categories?

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Are you someone who has been hurt?

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Who has been traumatized?

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Who has been cast aside?

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Who has been abused?

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Who has been sidelined?

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Who has been walked on? 

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Do you think it's possible that when Jesus says to deny yourself, it doesn't mean that you should continue to take mistreatment? That you should continue to shove yourself aside? That you should continue to feel shame? 

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What if Jesus invitation for you, and that invitation to self-denial, is to instead get up and let go of those shackles of shame that other people, and the enemy, want to keep you down with, and to instead come alive to the person you really are? If you're someone who finds yourself in that straying category, maybe, you've been struggling with an addiction, with a compulsion, with a sin that has just got you. 

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What if Jesus invitation for you is to deny that behavior, deny that sin, but not continue to beat yourself up? Instead, be free of those chains that bind you, so that you can live into the fullness of who God wants you to become. And if you find yourself in that third category; what if Jesus invitation to you is to set aside that ego, that pride, that false pretense. That you really know what's going on, that you're special to God because you've got it so together?

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What if God's invitation for you is to pry that self-righteousness out from your soul, so that you can live in the humility of knowing that you, too, need Jesus? The way we frame this invitation to self-denial, depends on the specific nature of the circumstances you find yourself in right now. If you're someone who has been denying yourself; so that someone else can abuse, or exploit, or take advantage of you. The invitation to you may well be to deny those parts of you that are telling you that you are not worth more.. 

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If you are someone who's been playing small so that others won't be threatened by you. The invitation for you might be to deny that lie, that God does not want you to come out of hiding and bravely inhabit the fullness of who you are. 

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If you are someone who has been trying to perfect yourself to earn the approval of others. Your invitation to self-denial might be to deny the parts of you that are perfecting yourself to win love. And what might it be like to set those parts of you aside, humbly, before God, and ask Jesus to teach you how to walk in the truth that you are already His beloved.

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What if dying to yourself means dying to the lie that God does not want more for you? 

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What if it means saying, "Yes, I will do whatever it takes to become the truest version of my God-given self?"

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What if dying to yourself means yes to following Jesus, as He seeks to heal the broken parts of you?

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This is what I believe it means to come alive to the truest version of yourself. It means dying to old ways that you've learned to cope and survive. It means dying to toxic patterns of relating to other people, of dying to ways of pleasing someone to get love. Of dying to shaming messages and self-hatred. 

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To dying to your practice of burying your pain, instead of bringing it out into the light, where it can receive healing. It means dying to the ways you've perfected yourself, incessantly, to your own exhaustion. It means dying to the lie that you don't matter and that your life does not have value. 

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This is where I love the way our biblical knowledge comes together with what we've learned in psychology. If you've followed me through The Boundaries for Your Soul series, you know that I believe we are comprised of parts. We are multifaceted beings. And so much of this invitation to deny yourself, may well relate to those parts of you that have learned to cope, or learned to survive, or learned to keep yourself in ways that are no longer serving you.

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This is not a shaming invitation. This is an invitation to let go of old ways so that you can become even more of your true self, of the beautiful person God wants you to become. 

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I want to close today with an exercise and an answer to one of your questions. So the exercise is an exercise in coming alive to yourself. If you've struggled with that voice of self-denial and you didn't really understand what you were supposed to deny, maybe you've been denying the wrong things. Maybe you've been denying your talents. Maybe you've been denying your gifts. Maybe you've been denying your God-given voice, that you actually need to use to speak up on behalf of yourself. 

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So this is an exercise to help you with that. If you have a blank piece of paper, you can divide it into two halves and think of a situation or a relationship that's been hard for you. And I want you to begin to notice the messages in your mind. So on the left side of the paper, I want you to think about what are the die-to-yourself messages that run through your mind? 

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These might show up in any kind of ways. Maybe they're not, literally, "I need to die to myself here." But they're the ways you've tried to get yourself to die to things based on messages you've picked up. So here are some examples; maybe you're someone who always tells yourself things like, "I should always do what they want me to do."

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"I should always meet the needs of other people."

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"I should just forget about that dream."

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"I should just be the bigger person in this situation."

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"I should pretend that what she did was okay to me." And these are always we tell ourselves, "Oh, we're dying to ourselves." When, in fact, we're actually bypassing the work of coming alive to the person God made. 

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We're relying on our old coping tactics of guilt tripping ourselves, and shoulding ourselves, as opposed to letting go of the edge of that pool, and in partnership with Jesus saying "Okay, God, I'm willing to try it a new way." So write those on the left side of that paper, and then on the right side of your paper, I want you to call this your – What-if-I-could messages.

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These are the – What-if-God-wants-me-to messages.

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"What-if-it's-possible messages." And those, for example, might be things like this; "What if I could take more space from this relationship?"

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"What if I could confront this person and ask them to stop treating me this way?" If it was safe to do that.

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"What if I could speak up, and use my voice to speak up against something that I don't like or the way that somebody's treating me?"

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"What if I could say no because I'm overextended, and I just simply don't have what it takes to do what that other person wants me to do?"

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"What if I could say, 'This isn't okay with me. I'm not comfortable being treated this way?'"

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"What if I could walk away from a situation?"

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"What if I could begin to use this gift or this talent that really brings me a lot of joy."

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And then you begin to just look at these two columns. Look at these messages where you're shooting yourself to death. You're trying to die to yourself, but it's not the right kind of death. You're trying to deny all the wrong things. And look at that column in contrast to this other column of, "What if I could do some of these other things?"

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Then ask God, connect to the vine, connect to the God who made you. Connect to the Holy Spirit who lives inside of you, to ask Jesus for guidance. This Trinitarian God and say, "God, show me where I might have been missing it a little bit with this self-denial thing. Have I been denying aspects of myself that you might, actually, be calling me to claim? 

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And if that's the case, show me the things I, actually, need to deny. Maybe it's the part of me that guilt trips me. Maybe it's the part of me that shames me. Maybe it's the voice that I inherited from my parents or from a pastor, that isn't actually your voice. Can you show me, God? Can you show me what's the real thing I need to deny or set aside? 

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Is it these coping tactics?

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Is it this way of playing small? 

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Is it this way of always pleasing others? 

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And what is the invitation you're calling me to come alive to instead?"

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All right, so the point of this exercise is to grow an awareness of the ways in which this message of self-denial has gotten a little bit twisted in your mind. This happens to so many of us, and it's a great tool of the enemy. And as you do this, I want you to consider, is it possible that there's a different way that God wants you to deny aspects of yourself to bring you into even more of the life He wants for you to have.

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To close out, today, I want to address a question that came in, that we really thought was a great question. It's from Abby and she wrote, "In my experience, it seems a lot of church messages still hold a lot of that 'You should try hard to get it right.'

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'You have to win God over.'

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'You have to earn your salvation, even though they will say, we can't earn it.' And this implies I've got to make it to heaven, which has very little to do with our life now." Abby goes on to say, "Have you experienced pushback in your interpretations of salvation having a component of healing. Of backing off of the shoulds, and the rule following, and the shame, and the trying harder, perhaps more common to church models in teaching in our culture today? How do you cope with it?"

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Thanks for asking the question, Abby, it's a great question. The truth is I really surround myself with people who are thinking in these theologically nuanced ways, If you read C.S. Lewis, I still love the Narnia Tales. He paints such a beautiful picture of this embodied way of living out your faith. 

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There are so many people out there who've become my intellectual friends, my heroes of the faith. Who keep me anchored in a more robust theology that, frankly, is more true to historical orthodox Christianity than this very current, very specifically American type of theology, that really focuses in on this, "You've got to get yourself saved."

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And that's, primarily, get yourself saved, get yourself right with God, get your morals right, and then you'll get to heaven. This very narrow lens, which is really just a fraction of the gospel message that we see, especially, here in modern American Christianity. 

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And, so, I would just say that the way I cope with it, number one, is I really try to surround myself with real people, and thinkers, and with teachers who are really open to this holistic orthodox Christian theology. That encompasses the mind, the heart, the body, the spirit.

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Another thing that has really meant a lot to me as I've dug in to the Scriptures is this idea, and I've talked about this on here before, but I want to mention it to you, again, today, is just this idea that this is all steeped in real scholarship, real biblical scholarship. Where we know that this Greek word Sozo sometimes it's Soteria, that is often translated as saved or as salvation in our current biblical translations, can also be translated as healed or wholeness.

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And, so, there are certain places in the Scriptures where you can replace the word saved, what's been translated as saved, into the word healed. For example, in Matthew 9:21, where the woman who has been sick says, "If only I could touch His garment," speaking of Jesus, "I will be saved." Now that's the common translation we see. But you can substitute that word healed in, "If I can only touch His garment, I will be healed."

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And there's a different connotation there, there's not just this connotation, "If I can touch His garment I'll be saved, and I'll get my ticket to heaven." And then what does she do for the rest of her life? That's not what we see in Jesus. We see a man who is wanting relationship with humans, wanting to stay in connection to them. 

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And, so, the connotation of "If I touch His garment, then I will be healed" suggests I will be more whole. I will be able to go out and live this life as a follower of Jesus, as a disciple of Jesus, in my family, in my town, in my community. I will be productive. I will have a role to play. And, again, we see this time and again, when we see how Jesus interacted with the sick, with the suffering, with the sinners, He gave them a role. He said, "Do this."

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"Go there."

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"I have purpose for you."

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"Your life starts now."

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"I'm not just saving you so you can sit around till heaven. You got work to do, good work to do, to continue to bring more of my healing into this world."

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And I think about that verse in Philippians 2:12 that says, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." And if you think about replacing that word salvation there with the word healing or the word wholeness and, again, the connotation of that verse changes. "Work out your healing with fear and trembling."

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"Work out your wholeness with fear and trembling."

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This is what we're called to, this is the work. That we are to work out our process of becoming whole, becoming more healed this side of heaven. We won't arrive there this side of heaven because, number one, it's a complicated process. 

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And, number two, we're living in a broken world. So we're going to bump up against continuing layers of hard times. But we are also, continually, being made new, continually, being made whole. And there's a continuity between the life we get to live now, in this process, all the way through eternity. And every once in a while I'll say this line to people and that is this "We are living in eternity right now. We just haven't died, yet."

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So think about that. We are in eternity right now. We're in it. It's started. Eternity doesn't have a start and a stop, we're in it. It's the waters we're swimming in. We don't understand that in our finite human minds. We haven't crossed over into eternity, but we're actually in it. There is no there and here in eternity, we're living our lives are eternal. We are in that now. 

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And, so, what if every moment that you're with someone, every moment you're alive, is an opportunity to bring a little bit more of that healing that we hope for on the other side of death, on the other side of heaven, into this world now. And I believe there's very clear theological and biblical basis, in orthodox Christianity, for that truth. That's a more accurate depiction of what it means when Jesus has already won the battle. And, yes, we are still in the in between, we're not quite there, but we've already started. 

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The enemy of our souls is still active, but we are already in this process of becoming more whole. And that gets me excited about doing the work of denying those things that hold me back, that keep me from that wholeness that Jesus wants us all to have.

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< Outro >

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Thank you for joining me for this week's episode of The Best of You. It would mean so much if you'd take a moment to subscribe. You can go to Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts and click the Plus or Follow button. That will ensure you don't miss an episode and it helps gets the word out to others. While you're there, I'd love it if you leave your five-star review. I look forward to seeing you back here next Thursday, and remember as you become the best of who you are, you honor God, you heal others, and you stay true to your God-given self.

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