The Cross Marks The Way
The way out is marked by the cross.
There is a cesspool in the world named self-pity. It is fed by sewers of shame, fear and discouragement, which flow with abundance from this fallen world. Self-pity begins when pride is injured by the guilt of sin. This wound festers into shame, fear and discouragement; and they produce anger, bitterness, and finally self-righteousness. From this cesspool of self-pity men and women try to stand up and shake their fists at God. And when God ignores them, they turn their fists on one another. Self-pity always ends up feeding the pride that caused it, in an endless dance of self-centered misery. This is hell
The world teaches us to survive in this cesspool by numbing our minds with drugs and alcohol; and distracting our attention with greed and lust. Our culture produces endless streams of pornography, violence, gambling, materialism and now even virtual realities to feed our every lust. But lust can only be fed, it can never be satisfied. So when all of this fails, our culture gives us enemies to fight and idols to worship. Still nothing stops the pain of injured pride, which always leads its captives back into the cesspool.
The Bible teaches us to stand up and walk out of this cesspool, to leave it all behind us. Jesus defeated guilt at the cross. The Bible says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Jn 8:36). Jesus, the One who never deserved death, died to prove His love. The Son of God entered our stinking cesspool to become the Son of Man; so He could show us a narrow path to the foot of the cross, the only place where sin is freely exchanged for righteousness. The Bible says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21) How can we, the ones He made righteous, entertain any guilt? If we do, we declare His defeat. But He was not defeated; He rose to live and freely give life. (Rom. 5:18; Eph. 2:8) Only our pride must die that we may accept His free gift. And with it, dies the self-pity it cultivates. Where there is only His righteousness, there is no guilt and no pride. And where there is no pride, there is no self-pity.
To lift us out of this cesspool and lead us to a new life in the light of His glory, Jesus sent His Spirit. Through His Spirit, He gathers unto Himself His beautiful Bride, the Church. His Bride lives to celebrate His life and His love. And His love must always bring an end to self-pity; for love looks away from self. It cannot be injured by guilt. It has no shame or fear. It cannot be discouraged. All of this His love replaces by the hope that flows from faith in that perfect Love. (1 Cor. 13:13; 1 Thess. 5:8)
In our culture, the cross is placed over a grave, to mark the place of the dead. So here is a cross you may use to place over the grave of pride and self-pity. You have no need of them, because you have been set free; so let them die. You are the beautiful Bride of Christ, clothed in a pure white robe of His righteousness. You have the freedom to love; the freedom to look away from yourself and truly see the others around you. You have the freedom to become what God made you to be; to become what you have always been in His eyes, to become a Child of God and an ambassador of His love. Look on this cross and remember that the Son of God became the Son of Man; so that, in Him, you have the freedom to become a Child of God. (Jn 1:12) Come to the cross of life and leave the cesspool forever behind you. Join your true family in His Kingdom.
The way out of this cesspool is marked by the cross.
