MATTHEW 27:24–31 – So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.”
THEME OF THE DAY: CANCELLING THE SELF-PITY PARTY. It is part of the consequence of sin entering our world. We do it easily, even by nature because that is what the sin nature does. Christians do it too. Just because we are forgiven of our sin never again held against us nor have complete mastery over us, we are not immune from this sinful reaction to suffering and difficulties in life. And this reaction is holding a “self-pity party” that is the fruit of a life absorbed with sinful self-love and cravings for ease and comfort.
Interesting thing about a self-pity party, no one likes being invited to one. What I mean by that statement is no one likes being around a person who just wants to cry out “woe is me” and begin to talk away about themselves, their difficulties, their sufferings, and their circumstances.
Two other things about self-pity, it removes the joy of the Lord from our hearts because it is looking away from the source of that joy – the Lord Himself. Any look other than at Jesus leads us to bad things; look to the world and we will be discouraged, look to people and we will be disappointed, look to ourselves and we will be depressed and ripe to “throw a self-pity party.”
Self-pity also does serious damage to our witness for the Lord Jesus. It makes us more like unbelievers than believers. The world is full of people who throw self-pity parties, “I am entitled, I am a victim, I don’t deserve this, It isn’t fair” are just a few of the “party lines” of self-pity. When Christians languish in self-pity they misrepresent the Lord Jesus and discredit His Gospel.
So, how do we cancel the self-pity party? Today’s scripture. When tempted to focus on ourselves, our suffering, our difficulties, and our trying circumstances, shift the focus on the Lord Jesus in three places. Observe Him praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and the agony of intense praying even to the point of shedding blood. Fix our eyes on His scourging and mockery of a trial, then go and stare at Him on the cross and the spiritual, physical, and emotional suffering He endured – for us.
In won’t be long when we visit those places that we will be confessing and repenting of our sins of self-love and complaining. In doing so, we won’t be sending out invitations to a self-pity party to anyone and especially ourselves.
PRAYER: “Father, please forgive me when my sinful self-love wants to complain about difficulties in life.”
QUOTE: “The minute we take our eyes off Jesus’ sufferings, we will begin to complain about our own.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim