There is a constant stream of self-help out there. Why is that? Maybe because people need a lot of help.
And maybe it’s because no matter how much you tell someone to look to themselves for the answer, or to simply love themselves for who they are, there is still something incomplete, and they will still do things that don’t actually make them happier.
People are looking for a way to enjoy life more. To better themselves into a person that enjoys the life that they’re living, and potentially make some fewer mistakes along the way.
I was reading in Psalm 64 today and there’s a part that’s talking about those who plan up evil things and serve injustice all around them. Then end of the part that talks about that says:
“For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.”
I was realizing that no matter how dumb you might think someone is, everyone thinks deeply. I’ve talked about some similar thoughts I’ve had here. Everyone has a reason behind the things that they do. It may not always be fully thought out, but there is always a reason. Even if the reason is that they don’t care, that, in itself, is a reason.
I think that the reason that so many people pursue self-help or books on how to become a better version of themselves is because we’re all wired to think more deeply than just “believe in yourself.” That’s not always terrible advice depending on what you’re talking about, but it misses so much of the matter.
God tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) We can’t look to ourselves for answers or to “believe in ourselves”, or to “be okay just the way we are.” We are wired not to be okay the way we are. We come out of the womb as sinful humans. We know that’s not the way we should be, everyone just seeks freedom from it a different way.
There has to be something outside ourselves, and, in reality, there has to be something outside this world that we can put our hope in, because everything in this world, including ourselves, is going to let us down. When we look to ourselves, even if we can get deep enough to see the beautiful person that God has created, we are looking only at a creation, not the creator.
We are obsessed with the creation that God has made for us instead of looking to the source of it all. Whether we lust after other creations, obsess over the natural beauty he has created, or look selfishly to ourselves, we are missing the thing that made those things beautiful in the first place.
Don’t be a fool in thinking that you can solve your problems and feelings of inadequacy with anything but the God who designed the way your brain works.
“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” Romans 1:24-26