Worship Wednesday: Moving out from the Inside

I have learned that the biggest hindrance to true worship in my life is myself. You see, I am an introvert. I am a self-improver, my own worst critic. In fact, I get so tied up in knots over what I have done wrong and how inadequate I am, that I lose sight of grace. I become so self-consumed and self-focused that I can not see what is going on around me, and I can not truly worship.

I've made the mistake of thinking that being self-centered is all about arrogance and vanity, but I have discovered that someone with low self-esteem and no pride at all in their appearance can be just as self-centered as the pompous and proud. It doesn't matter whether we wallow in self-loathing and self-pity or boast in self-importance, we are still acting out our self-centered nature, and in that nature, we can not truly worship our Savior. The fact is that the self-centered person is trying to be there own Savior!

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. ²⁵ If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

                                                              Matthew 16: 24-25

These verses make it clear that to be a true follower of Christ and a true worshiper of God, we must turn our focus outward. Being an introvert is not a sin, after all, it is part of my God-given personality, but when I become so consumed by my own internal struggles that I lose touch with those around me and lose sight of God's power and glory, that is when I must remember these scriptures and bring my focus back to the Lord first. With a renewed focus on worshiping the creator, I can then breakthrough my own internal struggles and reach out to those around me.

This self-denial, this taking up the cross, starts with one simple step...a decision. A decision to worship the Lord in spirit and truth. A decision to redirect our focus. A decision to step outside of ourselves and our circumstances. A decision to love God and others and put their needs above our own!

One day this past week, as I was having a particularly tough day struggling with self-pity and self-defeat, I  decided to take Toby for a walk to calm myself. So, I put in my earbuds and hit shuffle on my phone and this song came on and instantly soothed my spirit. As, I listened to the lyrics of this song my eyes were opened and I began to see the truth about my self-centered state. My focus was shifted off of myself and I began to praise! My seemingly dismal circumstances began to come into perspective, and I realized that I didn't have do this all on my own.

Beautiful King

By Danydew

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

 ⁸ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

                                                              Phillipians 4: 6-8