In a desperate attempt to uplift society’s self-confidence, how many times a day do you hear TV shows or songs on the radio say: "Believe in yourself!" "Follow your heart!" "You are perfect in God's eyes!"? These words can seem like holy inspiration in the midst of a world filled with darkness, though in reality this philosophy is almost as evil as all the other misleading messages being spewed by the media. Today, I’m going to give some reasons why Christians shouldn’t be fooled by this unhealthy dose of humanism.
When music and television tells us to "believe in ourselves," just what are they saying? While it’s important to have confidence in the choices we make, we are failing to realize that there needs to be boundaries when it comes to this philosophy. For example, many Christians are being led to believe that "believing in ourselves" includes embracing all our sins and believing there’s no reason to ever change our sinful ways---we are being encouraged to believe that we are more powerful than God, simply because we're the ones who make decisions in our lives. In reality, we should remember that we should still look to the Lord for wisdom when making such decisions.
"Following your heart" is also a very unwise doctrine to abide by. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" In Matthew 15:19 Jesus states, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies. . ." Why should we want to follow our hearts—which are always changing—when we could be following God’s Word, which always remains the same? If every Christian went by what they believed their hearts wanted them to do, we’d be making excuses for sin all the time. Worst of all, we’d be deceiving ourselves. Remember: it’s not ourselves that need more faith. It’s God we need to believe in. Our hearts will lead us astray. The Bible won’t.
As for "being perfect in God's eyes," this has to be one of the most ridiculous mottos I’ve heard in a long time. Just because we’re Christians and have confessed our sins doesn’t mean God is tricked into thinking we’re perfect. He knows we still make mistakes, and although we’re always going to sin simply because it comes naturally, we shouldn’t take pride in our wrongdoing. Be willing to ask for forgiveness when you sin; don’t try to make excuses for it. We’re not perfect in anyone’s eyes nor will we ever be. Claiming oursleves or anyone else to be perfect is a great sign of lax humility.
When a friend needs an uplifting phrase or a word of encouragement to help them get through low self-esteem or a time of oppression, it would be much more meaningful to say God will help them through than to make them believe following their heart and believing in themself is all that matters. My fellow Christian friends, I hope that this reminder will assist you in learning to think twice about the seemingly-harmless philosophies that are coming from both the media and even many Christians today. God bless.
Danielle Forrester
