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“The Me-Syndrome”
September 2007
For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
Philippians 2:21
Recently, I was standing in a check out line at a business establishment. While waiting to pay for my purchases a row of attitude key chains caught my attention. One in particular stood out from the others, its caption read—“Yes, It Is All About Me”! That got me to pondering about a disease that is prevalent today in American society…a disease that has invaded the Christian realm with a vengeance…a disease called the “Me-Syndrome”! It has swept across our nation leaving a sickly trail of destruction that has touched the very fabric of our faith and lives with its’ self-promotional agenda.
Most disturbing is how quickly this highly contagious disease has reached epidemic levels in the lives of the very elect. Many have become consumed with finding themselves at any cost, even the loss of a family relationship or a long standing friendship. Some have become so obsessed with having their own way that they are willing to step on anyone they consider blocking their path to self-fulfillment.
The worst infected are those who have attacked their spiritual immune system by feverishly feeding the “Me-Syndrome” with extra doses of…it’s all about me and my rights, my goals, my needs, my family, my hobbies, my career, my preferences, my desires, my principles, my ministry, my accomplishments, and my achievements. One of the despairing conditions about the “Me-Syndrome” is that, as it progresses, the heart and mind become polluted with a self-centered lifestyle. It enters the bloodstream spreading the infection all throughout a person’s body, rendering useless their witness for Christ.
In Proverbs 5:23 it says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Then in Proverbs 21:4 it states, “A high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” We read in II Timothy 3:2, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…! These last two scriptures shed light and give insight to what the symptoms of the “Me-Syndrome” look like. Honestly, these symptoms are easily spotted! All we have to do is look for those with a…my way or no way attitude, a desire to get and not give, self-focused attitude, must be the star attitude or a prideful attitude of look what I’ve done. These symptoms are damaging to the cause of Christ.
Like the Psalmist David entreated the Great Physician in Psalms 139:23-24 to, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”, we too, should ask Him to examine our hearts with His all seeing microscope. I wonder what it would reveal. Would there be evidence of the “Me-Syndrome” brought into the open for all to see…would the condition of our heart affirm that we too have been infected with this crippling disease?
If so, there is no need to be discouraged. Why? Because the cure is found in John 3:30 where scripture tells us, “He must increase, but I must decrease”.
To be administered, this prescription involves anyone diagnosed with the “Me-Syndrome” to become God focused…centering their life around His agenda…living a life that reflects His glory…involves becoming a promoter of His successes, developing a genuine spirit of humility…involves being freed from an arrogant prideful state…and ultimately, it involves living a life before the world that points others to God and not them! See, it really isn’t all about me or you --- it truly is all About Him!
In a perfect world none of us would be susceptible to the infectious “Me-Syndrome”, but we do not live in a perfect world yet! So, until the Lord calls us home where we will not only dwell in a perfect world, but live in a perfect body, we need to daily vaccinate ourselves with mega doses of Him!
God bless you until our next visit,
Sheila
And that he died for all, that they which
live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them,
and again.
II Corinthians 5:15