Being True to Yourself

There are abstract phrases which people rattle off to sound self-actuated. Worse yet, most believe their abstract thoughts! The most common is "I've got your back!" when most often a person doesn't even take responsibility for their own protection. Another is "She has low self-esteem." when the person to whom they are referring is the most narcissistic person around! On The Bachelorette one suitor said "I'll guard your heart!"

One of the most often used abstractions is "I'm true to myself!" What in the world is that suppose to mean? I didn't know, so guess what I did? Yes; I Googled it!

"To be true to yourself means to act in accordance with who you are and what you believe.

If you know and love yourself you will find it effortless to be true to yourself.
Just as you cannot love anyone else until you love yourself,be true to yourself you cannot be true to anyone else until you are true to yourself.

Be who you are! Have the courage to accept yourself as you really are, not as as someone else thinks you should be. Do not take action or pretend to be someone else for the sake of gaining acceptance." (Essentiallifeskills: Be True to Yourself!; Z. Hereford)

Let's examine this.  First off, Hereford says that "If you know and love yourself..." Let's examine that. Society says that people are self-haters; that people have low self-esteem, etc. Is that true? Do you see self-haters out there or those who're selfish, prideful, arrogant, and critical of others? Is self-hate a common characteristic of mankind? Let's find out. Our Creator should know how he created us, so we'll turn to God's Manufacturing and Service Manual to find out:

Ephesians 5:29 "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:"

Assuming that "hate" is truly the acronym of "love", then this could read "All men love themselves!" This is validated by what each does for himself. He nourishes and cherishes himself. To what extent? A profound amount! God loves the church (that's us Christians) and he loves us so much that he sacrificed his own son for us (John 3:16)! In effect men love themselves as if they are their own god! They appease themselves by providing nourishment (keep it in good condition) and cherishing it (adoreing and esteeming themselves). The world says people have low self-esteem. God says that's not a person's problem. They esteem themselves too highly. (I have written a Daily Thought on self-esteem: Christ-esteem: The Answer to Self-Esteem).

I have proposed that the "other god" which God tells us not to have is each of our own individual "Selfs". According to Paul, we all love our god to the extent that we give it all types of good things and esteem it highly! You may ask "What about those who commit suicide?" God made no exception for those who destroy their own idol because it doesn't get "nourished" by others. Yes, "love" is a basic need. Maslow was right about that. People hurt because others don't love their god as they do, and they want to make their god to quit hurting by committing suicide. Ironically they love their god to the extent that they destroy it to protect it from pain!

Suicide is the ultimate sacrifice of the self to the Self. Others may argue that depression causes suicide. I'm sure clinical depression causes abnormal thinking and those who are irrational do irrational things. It's not "love of self" which inflicts them, but I understand it's misfiring of the synapses. For those who are mentally alert, Paul, as inspired by God, indicates that everybody else love themselves!

Hereford also identifies "being true to oneself" as not having to gain acceptance from others. Even suicidal people seek attention and acceptance form others! Claiming to not care what others think is absurd! Since  people cherish their own flesh, they want others to feel the same way. Having a facade' of a non-caring attitude is lying to oneself. It's just the opposite of "being true to oneself". If that is the case, being "true" is being a liar. "I am a liar because I say I don't need acceptance, when I really do!"

Genesis 2:18  "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."

Psalm 133:1  "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"

God instilled in men as he created them, the need for friendship. Those who need friends need others to accept them. God even needed companionship. God even needs acceptance. God has one expectation! He expects us to love him. He tells us that. Although, we're not God, we were made in his image. We too have the need for acceptance!

Being accepted is being incorporated into the lives of others. We are to dwell together in unity! We need each other! When people say that they never need to have the acceptance of others, they are liars! That's a human characteristic. What God wills for us that we not do wrong for gain, whether it be for money, power or acceptance. For myself I don't even want hateful people to hate me! I bet you're the same way!

"To be true to yourself means to act in accordance with who you are and what you believe.' (Hereford).  Who are you? Pretty much, if there is no God, you're walking fertilizer. You came from the dust and to dust you will return. Since there is God, he says that you're a sinner and you need to change! Because of God, you're not mere fertilizer, but a precious being who he loves!

The goal of God for all mankind is to make you over!

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

God not only wants you to live forever, his will is that you CHANGE! The "you" that is now, becomes a totally new person. That rotten personality of selfishness shall change to a charitable loving person. That what being "born-again" does. being "true to self" is hanging onto the "other god" which you are placing above God. It's toppling your own idol and presenting a changed person to God as a servant of God and others! You're remade from a god to a servant.

Galatians 5:13 "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."

The second part of the definition is "being true to what you believe". Guess what? "What you believe until God sets you straight, is mostly lies. Satan has lied to you and you bought into it! Adam and Eve were deceived with tricky words from the serpent and you believe lies everyday! Are you happy in believing lies? If you are "true to yourself" you live a lie in spite of truth!

I'm going to be really really critical. You that spout that garbage are fools, and those who believe they are "being true to themselves" are deluded. That is NOT a desirable thing to do! That person we're trying to be faithful to: our Self, is the one who gets short changed. If you are being true to your self, you're being faithful to Satan! You are right where he wants you to be: adoring and cherishing that silly idol of flesh instead of the One True God!

1 Peter 4:2 "That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God."

God's will is that we change! Rather than "being true to our self" we should put away that flesh with it's lusts and delusions, and do the will of God. Rather than being "true to self" we "accept the truth of God". We become "true to God"! How's that done?

Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

You must, to please God and gain his acceptance, sacrifice your own self. You give up your faithfulness to you and start being faithful to God. You need God's acceptance and he will accept you if you desire. He never forces you! If you are being true to yourself, then you damn yourself; a very foolish option! Do not listen to the philosophies of men. Listen to the truth of God!