My grandfather, Paw-Paw, is one of my heroes. He had seen it all, from riding down Main Street in Houston on horse and buggy to living through two world wars, The Great Depression, and just about everything you could imagine. I loved listening to his stories, and there was usually a valuable lesson for me. He lived alone, and one day, I asked him how he could live all by himself. His response was one I will never forget. “Son, if you can’t live with yourself, you can’t live with anybody.”

Many of us seem to be in an epic struggle with ourselves. We give into the religious rubbish of thinking that we are our own worst enemy, that God is fed up with us, and that self is a dirty four letter word. To top it off, religion actually considers a poor self-image as humility! To think poorly of yourself is not humility, but it is humiliating. God does not want you to have a poor view of yourself any more than He wants you to have a prideful view of yourself. True humility is having a proper view of yourself. At salvation, the old self was crucified and you were made a brand-new creation, acceptable and pleasing to God. Why would He make you any less than what He wants? You are not your own worst enemy, and you certainly aren’t God’s. Jesus calls you friend! He is not fed up with you; He is fond of you. When you see yourself the way God does, which is the truth, the religious wounds of self-rejection fade away, and you begin to embrace what God does…the new you! Thank you, Jesus, and thank you, Paw Paw…lesson learned.

2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

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