“Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice;
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
If you turn at my reproof, behold,
I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.”
Proverbs 1:20-23
Isn't it true that real wisdom is so hard to hear among the chaos of lies being thrown at us by the world?
As a woman, I am being told:
"If you've got it, flaunt it"
"You do you, girl"
"No one can tell you how to live your life"
"Don't change for anybody!"
"Sleep with whoever you want."
"You are in charge of your life."
Then I'm being told that men should stop treating women like sex objects because we have brains too (great point) ... but what are the same women doing? Acting like sex objects because "it's my body!" Oh, the irony.
Then we have this "love yourself" movement which speaks to some valid issues but addresses them in an entirely secular, new-age fashion. We're told that we have to boost our "self-esteem" and that we need to really love ourselves before we can love others and that our "happiness" should be our first priority in life.
When will women (and men) realize that, NO you are not beautiful just the way you are. Yes, you were fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God but, sheesh, we are depraved. Look at us! We think elevating "self" and boosting our egos is the way to happiness and joy. We think the answer to our longings is within ourselves. You just gotta muster up some confidence from within, put on some lipstick, and then you'll improve your self-esteem, be able to do everything a man can do, and you'll be ruling your own little world. You don't need nobody... you do you, girl.
There has never been a generation that praises egotism as much this one. Never before has selfishness been praised in a culture like it is in this one. What happened to self-denial? What happened to dying to self and serving others? When did it become noble to post half-naked pictures of yourself on Instagram under the banner of "fitness" because "I work so hard for my body and I want to show it off" ???
It really breaks my heart to see so many women lost in this counterfeit, temporal "happiness" the world offers. I was once stuck deep in those lies and I regret suppressing the truth for so long. To be honest, those lies still so easily grab hold of my heart.
The Gospel tells us that human beings without Christ are "dead in their trespasses" and are "children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:1-3), it says that "all have sinned and fallen short" (Romans 3:23), that "nothing good" dwells in man (Romans 7:18), that our "hearts are deceitful above all" (Jeremiah 17:9), that human beings without God do not accept the things of the Spirit of God, "for they are folly to him" (1 Corinthians 2:14), that "no one is good except God alone" (Luke 18:19).
Still think you're beautiful just the way you are? I sure don't. I can't even trust my sinful heart because it is an idol factory. I am prone to worship the idol of self instead of God. My heart's tendencies are to believe the lies of the world and Satan... that I can be my own god, that I don't need to change, that I am perfect just the way I am.
The truth is, the solution to our unfulfilled longings is not within our sinful hearts, it's outside of us. Jesus Christ is the only solution. At the end of your life, you are going to stand before a just and holy God, and be judged. And you'll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness–or lack of it–or the righteousness of another. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.
Turn from your disbelief and put your trust in Jesus Christ. Only by his grace can you be saved. And not just saved from hell, but saved from yourself (yes, you need to be saved from yourself). You can be free from bondage to sin and from the endless unfulfilling cycle you're living in. Without God, we are slaves to sin, but with him, we are free to live the joy-filled life he calls us to. Don't listen to the lies of the world, the truth cries out among the lies. Stop ignoring the truth. Repent and believe.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.'" Matthew 16:24-25
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