Think Less of Yourself!

This photo has made my day! It is from the just-ended 2022 Africa Confederation cup finals. Kudos to the photographer, he has nailed it. Am not sure what the conversation was between the referee and Mohamed Salah (the highly ranked Egyptian striker), but the caption is so telling. Assuming so, there is a profound spiritual lesson that every Christian should learn from.

A wink; unquestionably the title of this article does not fit well with the paradigms of today’s motivational speakers and preachers. To them, am a loser.

 

That aside. Have you ever noticed how highly people think of themselves in this generation? I have met people who think, speak, and act as though they own the world. as though the world would disintegrate into rabble if they ever fold their hands. They make everybody around them or those attached to their paraphernalia appear indebted to their worth. A sure display of our degenerated egocentric life which promotes ‘self’ like a product at the marketplace?

 

Whether it be at school, in the corporate arena, or within the religious community self-aggrandizement and self-glorification is the order of the day. indeed, without a shadow of a doubt, we the 21stC earthlings have exponentially become the beasts of the urban jungle”. In our depravity we have relentlessly continued to walk in the way of our federal father Adam; buy into the lie of the evil and make ‘self’ a little god.

 

Brethren, it is time to be more deliberate in heeding the Scriptures: “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work… (Gal 6:3-4)”.

 

In Biblical history all those characters we most admire as successful notables who left a godly legacy and posterity were meek. They all thought less of themselves. They all began life with very little to offer. Let me sample a few popular ones.

Abraham began as a homeless traveler. Joseph was an imprisoned sold slave. Moses was a slave child and later a fugitive. David was a disregarded little shepherd boy. Daniel a young captive and slave. Nehemiah a house servant slave. And the mightiest of all, Jesus Christ the Nazarene born in a cattle cave from a simple young couple.

Though they all had dreams, goals to conquer, and odds to brave, they accomplished their earthly missions having thought less of themselves. It was with their very lowliness/meek disposition that God glorified himself and promoted them.

 

So brethren, this idea of self-glorification, self-positivity, ‘claiming and believe theology’ and all the rest in that bundle is just an awash approach to life. Christians need to learn to work hard and to get dirty through the heat of the day. it doesn’t matter how highly you think of yourself, God has ordained work to feed, dress, and shelter you. Leave it to the Lord to test, prove, and eventually make something good for his glory and your good from you.

 

Back to the referee-Salah conversation. In light of the comedy, lol! The referee was right to challenge Salah to take charge of the match if he thought of himself as one who can referee better. Not that the referee was going to give up his role to Salah; rather, he was simply being sarcastic. With that very sarcasm, he drove the point home: “I am in charge, leave it to me, and you think less of yourself for now!”

Consequently, in his wisdom, Salah was right in refusing to take the whistles and the cards. Not because the regulations would not allow, but because he was reminded of the need to be humble and stick to his lane; to think less of himself as a player and not an adjudicator.

 

Brethren, though simply a photo and a comical caption which is most likely not true, it is so illustrative of our spiritual life. The more we think less of ourselves and commit to doing our calling and placement with all our might, the better people we become. Simply put; let us learn to be humble, to respect other people even when society regards them less, and to do our work with all our might. That glorifies our God!