The Right Pair of Glasses

When sin entered the world, a division came between how Mankind looks at things and how God looks at things. We were created to glorify the God who created us, but instead we focus on ourselves. It is interesting to note that in the Bible there are many admonitions to think of others more highly than ourselves, but I've searched the Bible for many years and I've not found anywhere that God tells us to love ourselves. Secular society, though, would like for us to believe that the primary need people have is to love themselves.

Yesterday in a corporation meeting for our school system, they passed out a brochure for an employee counseling program they are now involved in (their way of helping employees deal with stress). As I read one of the articles on the little newsletter, I was hit again by this idea of glasses. My mom and I used to have glasses that looked almost exactly alike on the exterior, but which were very different on the interior. If I put on her glasses, people looking at me might think I was okay, but from my point of view, things would be all blurry and I wouldn't be able to see things as they really are. If we are not careful, we can often put on the lenses belonging to the world instead of those belonging to God, and when we do, I guarantee we will not see reality as it is. It is only when we put on the lenses of God that we can see things as they really are.

Many of you have pointed out to us that it's hard for you to see that psychology is not harmless. Let me show you exactly how to look at something put out by a counseling organization and see it through the lenses of the Bible instead of the lenses of the world. My comments will be in [ ]. All of the following is quoted from this newsletter so I will not put in " to make it more readable. (The newsletter is called Healthy Balance and is © by Parlay International.)

Learning to Love: Tips on Loving and Respecting Yourself

I am the greatest. We may have laughed when we heard Muhammed Ali tell the world what he thought of himself, and with such conviction. But we knew he believed in himself. [Can we find the term "believe in yourself" in the Bible anywhere? No. Do we find the idea of "believing in yourself" in the Bible? No. Unless you want to acknowledge God is who He is, the only other choice you have is to believe in yourself. What a poor substitute for believing in God!] And we each need to know that "I am the greatest." [This is opposite to the truth of the Bible. In John 3:30, John the Baptist says that "He (meaning Christ) must become greater; I must become less." If Christ must become greater than us, then that means that only He is the greatest. It also means that secular society, in saying that we all need to know that we are the greatest is basically echoing the New Age sentiment that we are all gods within ourselves. How can we be the "greatest" if there is only one God?] Learning to love ourselves is a process. [The entire rest of this article is based on the false (and anti-biblical) assumption that we have to learn to love ourselves.] There are affirmations and behavior to reinforce this, which will ultimately result in loving ourselves. When we can truly love ourselves, then we will be free to love others. [Biblically speaking, our ability to love others does not come from loving ourselves, but because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19 Are you starting to see the huge shift from a focus on God to a focus on ourselves? This puts ourselves first in everything.]

The Goal of Love

We are all like flowers waiting to bloom, to grow and to open up to the world. Love is considered the highest ultimate goal. [Here we see a twist of biblical truth. We were created to be in a loving relationship with God, but this is not the same goal as what they are stating here. Remember, their version of love begins with a focus on our own selves, which makes it a love that we have because it makes us feel good about ourselves, not because of it being good for the one being loved.] Everyone wants happiness, fulfillment and a feeling of healthy belonging. We all have the right to be loved. We deserve it. [Paul tells us in Romans 5:6-8 that God didn't love us because we were lovable, but because He is love. This is what makes His love so incredible for us! He didn't love us because we DESERVE it. God loves us DESPITE our being unlovable. He loves because He IS love. God has chosen to love us. This different focus makes a huge difference in our hearts because if we are loved because we "deserve" to be loved, if anyone dares not to love us, then they are depriving us of our rights and that makes us angry. If we are loved merely because someone has chosen to love us, then this love becomes a gift that brings us delight and causes us to be so very grateful for our beloved. The result is either a greedy attitude (I want it, I deserve it and you'd better give it to me!) or a grateful attitude (I don't deserve it, but I'm so grateful for you giving it to me!). And this shows us the result of secular thinking verses godly thinking.] But how can one achieve this? Will love just come along? The path you take will determine your destination. [Love is dependent on ourselves, according to this. The Bible tells us that God loved us before we DID anything to be lovable.]

How Can I Love Myself?

Okay. I want to believe in myself. [The major problem with believing in ourselves is that it limits what we can aspire to. With this focus, the best we can hope to aspire to is limited to what we are. If our belief is in God, then we can aspire to becoming more like Him…and isn't that better than even the best we can be?] I want to feel that "I am the greatest." [There's that sin nature again. It basically says that we are more important than God.] I want to accept myself, but how can I really be "the greatest"? [Sorry, no matter how hard you try, it just isn't going to happen. God is the greatest. Always has been, always will be.] Awareness is the first step to achieving harmony and acceptance. You might want to think about the following statements. Note your strengths and weaknesses.

• I know what my needs are and how to meet them. [Wow, is this a selfish statement or what? I'm Number One and I'm going to do whatever it takes for Number One so don't get in my way. My needs come before anything else. Biblical truth? Matthew 6:33, "Seek first the kingdom of God." Matthew 20:16, "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Philippians 2:3, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Need I go on?]
  
  
• I can freely express my feelings. [What really happens here is that in our "freely" expressing our feelings, we feel it gives us the right to say whatever we want to others in order to vent our own feelings and make ourselves feel better -- even if it devastates the other person. Expressing our own feelings becomes paramount to caring for the feelings of the other person. But then, what can you expect from a mindset that says we've got to put Number One first before anyone else. Proverbs 29:11, "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."]
  
  
• I engage in meaningful pursuits. [Which have been described so far as making certain you are Number One and your wants are fulfilled first.]
  
  
• I recognize my inner values. [Notice here where the values come from: inside yourself. If values come from inside yourself, then it would be fine (and expected) for everyone to have different values. If you carry this out to its logical conclusion, you can see that if my values say that human life is valuable but yours say that human life is disposable, I cannot condemn you for killing a human being because you were just being true to your values.]
  
  
• I enjoy my body and take care of it through nutrition and exercise. [I Corinthians 9:25-27 indicates that our bodies should be kept in line with godly commands. Although God has given us a body that can experience pleasure, to focus more on the body than on the God who gave us that body will never be pleasing to Him.]
  
  
• I am creating and enjoying close, intimate relationships. [As this article continues, just take note of the use of the word "create". Notice who is doing the creation in each of these instances. How can you really create and enjoy close, intimate relationships when you are in them for your own pleasure and enjoyment? If you look first to your own interests, what kind of friend will you be? Who wants to be married to someone who always puts themselves and their wants and needs first? The types of close relationships shown in the Bible are where you are building each other up and are more interested in the good of the others than in your own welfare. 1 Corinthians 12 Wouldn't selfish motives keep you from really enjoying close relationships?]
  
  
• I respond to challenges as opportunities for growth, strength and maturity.
  
  
• I am creating the life I want. [The created now wants to be the Creator. We are the little god who is going to make sure our life turns out the way we think is best. Is our life really going to be better if it is created according to what we think is best? Or according to what God thinks is best? Should our lives be constructed according to what we want or to what God wants?]
  
  
• I trust my own personal resources. [Psalm 20:7 "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." Psalm 31:6 "I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD." Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Oh, my! I could go on and on and on for this one! The only reason we would ever trust our own personal resources would be if we were God. You're not God, are you?]
  
  
• I experience myself as a wonderful person. [This says that we are all basically good people at heart. Hmmm…shall we check what the Bible says about this? Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Genesis 6:5 "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." Psalm 14:3, "All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." Appears to me that the Bible sure doesn't support the idea that we are "wonderful." Please note that this is a foundational belief of the humanistic basis for psychology. The Bible says man is basically evil. The world says man is basically good. If man really were basically good, then don't you think by now we'd have done away with wars?]
  
  
• I am creating situations that help me realize my personal worth. [Again we see the word "create" used, which reinforces the idea that we are little gods. A catch-phrase that is often used for such an idea is "empowerment." We all like to be in control; we like power. This is what our sinful nature tells us is right. But even more important about this statement than the empowerment idea, look at the basis of our personal worth. Where does it come from, according to psychology? My personal worth comes from situations around us: our job, our family, what we DO. If this is what our personal worth is grounded in, what happens when we lose our job? Or our husband? Or our child? Where does this leave us with our personal worth? If we base our personal worth on the situations around us, then we will at some time in our life be in a severe crisis. It's no wonder so many are contemplating suicide when their personal worth is based on the tenuous foundation of the situations around us.]
  
  
• I believe there is abundance in life for me. [I seem to remember Jesus talking about abundant life in John 10:10. Here we see psychology giving us a truth, but not giving us ALL the truth. Yes, there is an abundant life, but it is ONLY found through Jesus Christ. It's important to give the WHOLE story because partial truth is usually not truth at all. According to everything we've read in this brochure so far, where do you think these people think the abundance in life comes from?]

Continue this process of discovery by honestly asking yourself: "What do I need to work on?" "How are my communication skills?" "Am I pleased with my value system?" [So, if you don't like your value system, can you just change it so it fits your likes? Are our values customizable to our likes and dislikes? Or does God have values that are fixed and do not change from person to person? Romans 1:20] "Can I gently accept myself as I am now, and work on who I want to be?" [Change, according to the people who wrote this brochure, comes from within ourselves. But if we could all just change ourselves to be good, wouldn't we all just do it and the world would then become a wonderful place? Psychology tells us that we have the answers inside ourselves. So, if we have the answers inside ourselves, why do we have to pay some psychologist $150 per hour to find those answers? Seems odd to me to pay someone money to have them find something that you have in yourself all the time. And if you had all the answers inside yourself, why would you need them? The term "counselor" means a person who actually gives advice. Psychology trains its counselors to refrain from directly giving advice (because the person has the answers inside themselves so all these counselors have to do is to draw those answers out, not GIVE answers).]

The Unique You

Make a list of all the ways in which you are unique and special. [Whew! I am having Neil Anderson flashbacks here! To focus on your uniqueness and specialness means that you have bought into the false and anti-biblical foundation this entire article is based on.] List all your positive qualities, the things you do well, those things that come to you with ease. Write what you like about yourself. Focus on the positive. Spend time every day reviewing your list and reviewing yourself. [Are you SURE Anderson didn't write this???] Assess your qualities and know that you can live up to your potential. [Psalm 139:23-24 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." The psalmist wanted God to show his offensive ways to him, not to show him all his good points. Perhaps we would be better served to spend time every day thinking about how much of a sinner we are and how great our God is because He has paid for that sin.]

Through knowing yourself, who you are and how you shine, you will learn to love yourself. Discovery is the beginning. You can create your life. [This is the mission statement of psychology. And if you are the one who creates it, then you become a god. Have we forgotten who it is that really created our life? God Almighty is the only one who creates lives. Let us never forget that.] You can refine the self and you can love yourself. [Sure, according to them, we don't need God. We can do it ourselves.] There's only one you, and you are unique.

This is the end of the quoted portion. I know this is long, but I think it is vital to see this article with a different pair of glasses than usual. It breaks my heart that most Christians would read an article like this and applaud it. But let me share this with you. If you live according to the philosophy in this article, it should not surprise you at all when you find yourself alone and depressed, cut off from others by your own selfishness, isolated by your own insecurities and feelings of worthlessness. It would seem to me that this type of thinking would cause you to be MORE depressed instead of less depressed.

The difference between BIBLE counseling and psychology becomes very evident when we look at articles like this through the right pair of glasses. Bible counseling points people to God for the answers they lack; psychology points people to themselves for the answers they don't have in the first place. Bible counseling urges people to take their eyes off of themselves and their problems and to look instead to the God who is in control of everything and who loves us so much that He is committed to our ultimate best; psychology urges people to put their own needs and desires first and to put themselves in charge of everything.

Which lenses will you use to look at the world? Will you use the lenses of psychology with its faulty foundation of humanistic lies? Or will you use the lenses of God's word, the infallible written word of the perfect Almighty God? The choice is yours. What you see will be determined by which pair of glasses you pick up to put on. Choose wisely.

In His grace,

Chalk