WHEN ‘SELF’ IS EXALTED

DAY 121

John 10:12 But the hired man [who merely serves for wages], who is neither the shepherd nor the owner of the sheep, when he sees the wolf coming, deserts the flock and runs away; and the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.

When the hireling sees a wolf, the first thing they think about is ‘themselves’: I need to be preserved. Thus, by virtue of that posture in mind, the sheep are left at the mercy of their prey, as though they never had a shepherd.

Reading today’s text, the word that came to mind is ‘self’. In recent times and in our current language, the concept of self has become ever so glorified: Self-help, self-respect, self love, and a host of others. The outcome of this has been the creation of a selfish, individual-centred and inward looking society, where everybody seems to ensure they have a clear advantage before reaching out to another.

Words like ‘accommodation, adaptability, and empathy’ are slowly becoming alien to our vocabulary. By no means is this a call to indifference and dislike for things that concern you, because by all means don’t neglect yourself. However, let us not elevate ‘self’ above everybody else who has some relationship with you: family, colleagues, etc.

There will be clear moments in life where you will not be the priority, even in your own life. Others will take that space and their outcomes may override yours. It is our forgetting of this which has been at the epicentre of many conflicts – ‘the fact that it has to be about ourselves first, before everyone else’. That isn’t always the case because unlike the hired hand, the good shepherd rather lays down his life for the sheep.

#sly